An important step in reducing infants’ risk of being malnourished, contracting infectious diseases and their accompanying mortalities is to gain an understanding of the experiences of mothers’ complementary feeding practices. While research exists on complementary feeding practices, limited research is documented on complementary feeding experiences of first-time mothers in Ghana with no evidence from the Effutu Municipality. In view of this lacuna in literature, this study investigated the lived experiences of first-time mothers on the initiation of complementary feeding in the Effutu Municipality using Social Constructivism as a theoretical foundation. The phenomenological research design within the interpretivism paradigm was followed in the conduct of the study where 12 first-time mothers were sampled through purposive and convenience sampling techniques with the main instrument being a semi-structured interview guide. After meeting the trustworthiness criteria, thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that first-time mothers initiated complementary feeding before the recommended period of six months. Besides, foods used in initiating complementary feeding were mostly cereal-based which is known to be deficient in other vital nutrients such as iron, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin B6 required and recommended for the healthy development of the child. The findings on experiences of first-time mothers towards complementary feeding indicated that they were inadequately prepared to initiate complementary feeding. Based on these results, it was recommended that the municipal health directorate should organize health promotion programmes to assist first-time mothers to better understand complementary feeding with its accompanying positive consequences of improving child growth and development.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0955/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Ecolabels are used to create environmental awareness and to direct individuals toward sustainable consumption. This study explored the awareness and use of ecolabels in purchasing decisions among students at the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. The exploratory survey design was employed in this study. An online survey which had 18 items, was used to collect data from two hundred and sixty-six (266) students. The data collected were processed via SPSS version 25.0 and analysed using frequency and percentage. The results were presented in tables, followed by their interpretation and discussion. Generally, students' awareness of ecolabels is below average. Most students (n=131; 49%) are unaware of ecolabels such as Ghana Green Label, Fairtrade and Voltic Ghana Eco-logo. In addition, the study found that the majority of students do not notice and search for ecolabels while shopping. Further, the study found that students who purchased products with ecolabels were below average. However, the majority of students (72.93%) trust that products carrying ecolabels are environmentally friendly and are willing to pay more for products bearing ecolabels. Therefore, the study recommended that producers, organisations and institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency-Ghana (EPA-Ghana) should increase the awareness of ecolabels and the need to use ecolabels in purchasing decisions.