This document presents a set of new and updated indicators to assess infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices at household level. It is a follow-up to the 2008 document “Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices – Part I & II”.

In total, there are 17 recommended IYCF indicators in the 2021 edition. Seven are new, and four of the 2008 indicators have been excluded from the 2021 list of IYCF indicators. In addition, three indicators of unhealthy food and beverage consumption are included. Unlike in 2008, no distinction is made between core and optional indicators in this set of recommendations. It is important to assess data using the full set of indicators for any given population and to report all findings.

This guidance document provides tools for the collection and calculation of the indicators. It is intended for use by managers of large-scale population-based surveys that will collect information on the status of feeding practices among infants and young children less than 2 years of age.

Indicators can be assessed through large-scale population-based surveys, including the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS).