Determinants of the Introduction of Prelacteal Feeds in Rural Nepal: A Cross-Sectional Community-Based Study

INTRODUCTION.The health benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for infants and mothers are well known.Breastmilk provides nutrition and protection from gastroenteritis, respiratory illness, type II diabetes (1) and leukaemia (2).Further, it can enhance the neuro-cognitive development of the child (3).The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and the continuation of breastfeeding thereafter (4).They recommend that initiation of breastfeeding should occur within the first hour of birth to increase child survival.WHO and UNICEF guidelines state that nothing should be provided to the child before initiating breastfeeding (5).Despite this, the practice of introducing prelacteal feeds to the newborn is still prevalent in many countries across the South East Asia region (6-9).Prelacteal feeds