Behavior Change Communication on Nutrition Interventions for Improving Mothers’ and Caregivers’ Complementary Feeding Practices: A Scoping Review

¹ Doctoral Program in Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia
² Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia

^* Corresponding maya.sofiyani@ui.ac.id

Abstract

Most stunting occurred in the first 1,000 days of life, particularly during the complementary feeding period, increasing from 22% at 6 months to 38% at 24 months of age. This shows a failure in complementary feeding practice regarding age, frequency, amount, texture, and food variety. This study aims to analyze the key themes of behavior change communication related to nutritional interventions, with an emphasis on mothers’ and caregivers’ complementary feeding practices for children under five through a scoping review. A total of 20 articles were obtained from the Scopus, MEDLINE PubMed, Science Direct, and Lens.org databases, published between 2015 and 2025. The analysis used in this scoping study focused on the type of intervention, outcome measures, impact of intervention on complementary feeding practice, and target population of mothers and caregivers with children under 5 years old. Results showed that the combination of BCC interventions consistently improved complementary feeding practices (dietary diversity, meal frequency, and minimum acceptable diet), increased consumption of animal-source foods, and reduced stunting. The strongest evidence comes from multi-component, community-based, long-term interventions that combine interpersonal communication (IPC) with other strategies such as mass media, community mobilization, and nutrition-sensitive interventions. This review offers a foundation for targeted interventions and evidence-based reforms to improve complementary feeding practices.