Assessment of Feeding Practices among under 5 Children in a Rural Area of Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

Introduction: According to WHO, an estimated 78 million babies are not breastfed within the first hour of life, putting them at higher risk of death and disease. Majority of those babies were discontinued from breastfeeding. Objectives: 1. To assess the feeding practices of under-five children and its influencing factors. 2. To determine the factors associated with feeding practices of under-five children. Materials and Methods: It is a Community based analytical cross sectional study done on 440 under 5 children residing in a rural area of Tamilnadu. Data collection was careied out using a structured questionnaire containing sociodemographic details, feeding practices, antenatal, Intranatal and postnatal characteristics of under 5 children. Data analysis was done using MS Excel and SPSS Software Version 22. Results: Nearly 59.7% of them were males and 72.7% of the mothers of under 5 children had education upto high school. Among the study participants, 61.8% were initiated breastfeeding within half an hour of delivery, 83.5% were exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months, colostrum was given in 82.7% and 57% were undernourished. Variables significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding were gender, nourishment of mother, birth order, early initiation of breastfeeding snd nutritional status of the child. Conclusion: As per WHO guidelines on IYCF practices, every child between the age group 6-23 months of age should receive complementary foods comprising of following 4 or more of grains, nuts, vitamins, egg, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meat , roots, tubers and legumes called as Minimum dietary diversity.