ABSTRACT

Child undernutrition remains a major health problem in poor developing

countries with stunted growth seen and micronutrient deficiency among children
under the age of 5. The period from birth to 2 years of age is a “critical window”
for growth and development which highlights the need for appropriate quantity
and good quality complimentary foods to be given to a child once it is 6 months
old. The purpose of this research focuses on assessing the knowledge and feeding
practices when it comes to complimentary feeding amongst mothers to help set
future plan of action for better child growth and health.
Objectives
1. To assess the knowledge and practices regarding complementary feeding in
mothers visiting paediatrics ward of services hospital lahore.
2. To know the risk factors associated with poor complementary feeding in
mothers visiting paediatrics ward of services hospital lahore.
Method
A cross sectional study was performed in which mothers with children between
the ages of 6 months – 2 years in paediatrics ward of Services Hospital, Lahore
were selected for research. The knowledge about complimentary feeding and
feeding practices carried out by mothers was assessed. A questionnaire was
designed and face to face interviews held and the responses of participants
recorded by qualified individuals. For data analysis SPSS software version 17 was
used and scoring of answers done. The knowledge and practices were ranked as
good, satisfactory and poor depending upon the overall score. If score was more
than 70%, it was regarded as good, if 50 – 70%, it was graded satisfactory and if
less than 50% then it was considered as poor both for knowledge and practices.
Results
About 65% of the respondants belonged to age group 20-29 years and 29% were
in the age group 30-39 and small fraction of 6% consisted of mothers from the 40-
49 years age group with the mean age = 29.1 ± 6.01 years. Out of 100 babies, 59
were between 12 – 24 months (59%) and the mean age = 14.2 ± 4.75 months.
Three forths of mothers live in urban areas and 78 out of 100 mothers (78%) are
housewives. The educational background of 50% mothers was Bachelors and 13%
were FA/Fsc pass. The per capita income is 10000 and above of 48 mothers (48%).
The highest percentage of mothers have 5 family members (25%), 31 mothers
(31%) had 3 children and 52% are a part of joint family system. The source of
knowledge for many mothers (52%) appear to be their mothers or mother in laws
compared to 44 out of 100 (44%) receiving their knowledge from doctors/LHW.
The quality of knowledge about complimentary feeding was good in 35% of
mothers but satisfactory in 55%. This was also reflected in complimentary feeding
practices with 59% showing a satisfactory level of implementation and 27% having
good feeding practices. There is statistically significant association of age of babies
with the knowledge and practices of complementary feeding (p values= 0.000 and
0.000 respectively). There is statistically significant association of the type of
family with the practices of complimentary feeding (P value= 0.000). There is
statistically significant association of the source of knowledge with the practices
of complimentary feeding (P value=0.000). There is statistically significant
association between the residential area, support of family members and the
total number of children with the knowledge regarding complimentary feeding
practices (p values=0.000).
Conclusion
Overall most mothers had a general rather than a well-informed concept of
complimentary feeding with more than half receiving their knowledge through
sources such as their mothers and mother in laws rather than a Health Care
Provider. More than half had satisfactory knowledge about complimentary
feeding and that was reflected with a similar percentage of mothers who had a
satisfactory complimentary feeding practice. The knowledge of feeding practices
has considerably improved compared to the previous researches done with more
mothers fully aware of the importance of including a variety of food groups in
theirs child diet to meet their nutritional requirement. However, there is still a
lack in implementing these practices due to social, cultural and economic barriers
due to which the risk of malnutrition remains worrisome for the children of the
community.