Milk Feeding Practices in Infants: A Survey in a Pediatric Outpatient Setting

Background: Despite the ban on feeding bottles, formula, and promotion of exclusive breast feeds for the first 6 months, these advisories are often violated. This can lead to various known health problems such as acute gastroenteritis and respiratory tract infections. Despite being a common problem there is lack of data from the private sector. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted from May 2023 to 2024 in the outpatient department (OPD) of a private hospital of Western Odisha. Mothers attending the OPD with their infants were interviewed. The data were recorded in pre-designed case record forms. Results: The milk feeding practices among 800 infants were analyzed. The majority was male ( n = 465, 58.1%), and of <6 months age ( n = 493, 61.6%). In <6 months age, exclusive breast feeding (EBF) was present in 388 (78.7%), and in infants 6–12 months age, EBF was present in 200 (65.1%) cases. In <6 months age, EBF was highest (85%) in rural areas, formula feeding was highest (11%) in urban areas, mixed feeding was highest (21.1%) in urban areas, and bottle feeding was highest (19.4%) in urban areas. There was no significant inter-group differences noted for any of these feeding patterns. In infants >6 months age, EBF was highest (85.1%) in rural areas, formula feeding was highest (11%) in urban areas, mixed feeding was highest (37.7%) in semi-urban areas, and bottle feeding was highest (32.6%) in semi-urban areas. There was no significant inter-group differences noted for any of these feeding patterns. Conclusions: This study highlights a decline in EBF and a rise in formula, animal milk and mixed feeding after 6 months with urban areas lagging in adherence to the recommended practices.