Year: 2024 | Month: September | Volume: 14 | Issue: 9 | Pages: 293-304
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20240939
Knowledge and Practice of Mothers on Child Feeding Practices and Child Survival Strategies in Ibadan
Abimbola Magret Muyide1, Rasaki Ajani Sanusi2
1Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
2Professor, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Corresponding Author: Abimbola M. Muyide
ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: In spite of the recognition of the impact of optimal Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices and Child Survival Strategies (CSS) for child health, Nigeria still remains one of the five countries that account for about 50% of under-five mortality in the world. This study was therefore conducted to assess the knowledge and practice of mothers on child feeding practices and child survival strategies in Ibadan.
Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire to obtain information from 960 mothers of under-five children recruited from three Local Government Areas of Ibadan. Information was collected on mother’s socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and practice of breastfeeding, complementary feeding, growth monitoring, oral rehydration therapy, immunization, food fortification, female education and vitamin A supplementation. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21.
Result: Majority of the mothers got information regarding child nutrition and care from hospitals (85.9%). 44.5% of respondents practiced exclusive breast feeding. Only 51.5% of mothers practiced the recommended age of complementary food introduction at 6 months. Of all respondents, 74.5% had an average knowledge, 19.5% had good knowledge and only 6.0% poor knowledge of IYCF while 39.7% had poor practice and 60.3% had good practice of IYCF. For CSS, 71.4% had average knowledge, 10.4% had good knowledge and 18.2% poor knowledge while 10.2% had poor practice and 89.8% had good practice of CSS.
Conclusion: Knowledge of IYCF was higher than practice while level of practice of CSS was higher than its knowledge. Only education and source of information had a statistical significance with both IYCF and CSS. Although respondents demonstrated adequate practice of most of the components of CSS, there were gaps in knowledge, which was the direct opposite for IYCF. Also, the study reaffirms the importance of education and source of information in the knowledge and practice of IYCF and CSS.
Key words: Child survival, Child Feeding, Mothers, Knowledge, Practice.