A BSTRACT Background: Infant feeding practices are important as they play a pivotal role in framing the overall growth and development of the child. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends initiation of breastfeeding immediately after birth, exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of life, and introduction of nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods at 6 months along with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond. But mothers may face difficulties in breastfeeding their babies and ultimately depend on commercial formula feeds or start early complementary feeding in their children. Infant feeding practices may affect the nutritional status and make the child more prone to infections in childhood. This study was intended to understand the common infant feeding practices and the associated factors in a rural community. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among the mothers of 1- to 2-year-old children residing in Nellanad Panchayat, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Cluster sampling was used as the sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured proforma which consists of sociodemographic details and questions regarding early initiation of breastfeeding, practice of prelacteal feeds, exclusive breastfeeding, and introduction of complementary feeds. Data entry and statistical analysis were done using SPSS version 21. Results: Among the 250 children, in 84.8% (212), breastfeeding was initiated within the first 1 hour following delivery, and 15.6% (39) were given prelacteal feeds. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life was found to be 72.8% (182) in the study. 9.6% (24) children were started on complementary feeds before 6 months of age. Factors such as initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour following delivery, full-term delivery, higher birth order of the child, not giving prelacteal feeds, and absence of self-reported difficulty in breastfeeding were found to be significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding. Children who were not exclusively breastfed were found to have higher proportion of acute respiratory infections and undernutrition. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, infant feeding practices in Kerala need to be improved in order to achieve the recommendations of WHO.
Prakash et al. (Thu,) studied this question.