Feeding practices among mothers of under five children at selected area, guntur (dt), andhra pradesh

Abstract

Child-feeding practices in early life play an important role in the growth and development of life, in protecting against infectious diseases and preventing lifestyle disorders in later life. The present study aimed to explore the feeding practices of young children. A cross-sectional design was adopted for the study. Convenient sampling techniques were used to select 60 mothers of fewer than five children residing in Yerrabalem, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings showed that 28% of them were 1 to 2 years old children. Half (51.6%) of them were female children, majority 63.3% of the families' income per month was Rs. 10000 to 20000. Nearly 26.6% of mothers were educated from middle school to intermediate education. Majority of them revealed that 25% were skilled agricultural and fishery workers and all of them sought information from family members. Regard to feeding practices, only 46.6% fed the baby with direct breast feeding, 30% of them had bottle fed, only 31.6% received vitamin drops or other medicines in 24 hrs recall. All the children were reported to be on breastfeeding, 48.3% breast fed immediately after birth. Adequate practices were reported a mean and standard deviation of 76.2% and 23.8% about infant and young child feeding practices. Overall, results showed good practices, but there are lacunae in a few practices that need to be improved on dietary diversity and iron fortification of food.