Breastfeeding Practice in Arar, Northern Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Human milk meets all the nutritional requirements of infants for the first 6 months of life, and it is associated with a lower incidence of diarrhea than partial or artificial feeding. The infant should be exclusively breastfed for at least 4 months of life and if possible for 6 months, as recommended by WHO and UNICEF. Aim of the Study: was to assess the breastfeeding practice for children under 24 months in Arar city, as well as its relation to some sociodemographic and nutrition related variables. Participants and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Arar city, mothers were selected from the attendees of 6 randomly selected primary health care centers in the city. They were interviewed and filled in a questionnaire that included the key questions. Results: 11.8% of infants received exclusive breastfeeding, 39.7% received a mix of both breast and artificial feeding while 48.5% depended only on artificial feeding. More than 50% of the studied infants were males, 70% of the mothers weren't working. No significant relationship between type of child feeding and child age, sex, mother education, mother's working status, father's work or mother age group (P >0.05). About 2 thirds of children who had mixed feeding suffered from repeated gastroenteritis, delayed teething, standing and walking. Conclusion: In accordance with the obvious deficiency of exclusive breastfeeding in Arar city which is located in Northern Saudi Arabia, we highly recommend that programs promoting exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of age must be conducted to increase mothers' awareness of the exclusive breastfeeding duration is recommended.