Complementary feeding practices among mothers of children under five years of age in Satellite Town, Lagos, Nigeria
Date
2014-02
Authors
Olatona, F.A.
Odozi, MA
Amu, EO
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Scientific Academic Publishing
Abstract
In Nigeria, only 30 percent of infants ages 6-23 months are fed in accordance with the recommendation for infant and young children feeding practices despite the fact that it has been shown that complementary feeding is one of the most important preventive measures that would reduce the excess mortality for children under the age of five years. This study determined the complementary feeding practices, among mothers of children under the age of five years in satellite town, Lagos. It was a descriptive cross sectional study which employed a multistage sampling method to select 358 mothers whose last confinement was not more than five years to prevent recall bias. Data was collected using structured interviewer-administered questionnaires and analyzed using Epi-Info version 6 computer software. Most of the respondents (65.0%, n= 227) have completed tertiary while only 1.2 % (n = 3) had no formal education. Less than half of the respondents (48.4%) introduced drinks or foods at age 6months. Even though majority (91.9%) continued breast feeding after introducing other foods, more than half (57.1%) discontinued it before 12 months. Twenty four hours dietary recall revealed that the commonest food given was cereals (65.9%) followed by fruits (46.4%) and tubers (42.7%). Most of the respondents fed the child responsively (70.3%) and prepared foods hygienically (75.1%). Complementary feeding practices though better than in many other communities within and outside Nigeria were inadequate compared to the recommended standards. Complementary feeding education using various media especially health facilities is very important for mothers of infants.
Description
Scholarly articles
Keywords
Complementary feeding , Infants , mothers of under five , Feeding practices , Research Subject Categories::MEDICINE::Social medicine
Citation
Olatona F.A., Odozi M. A., Amu E. O. Complementary feeding practices among mothers of children under five years of age in Satellite Town, Lagos, Nigeria. Food and Public Health, 2014, 4(3): 93-98