Fathers Role in Infant Feeding and Care: Exploring Perceptions, Practices, And Challenges in Lesotho’s Rural Communities

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Few studies have been conducted that considered the fathers’ role in proper nutrition of infants and young children. Mothers are the ones perceived to offer optimal care and feeding to infants while fathers are often responsible for the income related support especially in low-income class families. Therefore, this study was intended to find out to what degree fathers were involved in infants’ care and feeding. AIM: The study was aimed at investigating perceptions, practices, and challenges of fathers in infancy (1-12 months) care and feeding. METHOD: A qualitative study was conducted in Ha Mafefooane village in Roma, Maseru district of Lesotho. Six fathers, who had children between 1-12 months, participated in the study. Individual interviews in Sesotho language were carried out. Thematic analysis was adopted to identify emerged themes from the data. RESULTS: The study showed that, traditional fathers are partially involved in infants’ care and feeding. Based on their perceptions, practices, and challenges of everyday infants’ care and feeding, fathers perceive routine child care and feeding as mothers’ duty and they only get involved as the way of assisting mothers as well as income generation. The findings showed that fathers lack knowledge of their role in child care and feeding practices. CONCLUSION: This study helped to reveal the perception, practice and challenges of fathers with respect to the care, infant feeding. Fathers generally think that their role is to provide money for the house, while it is the duty of the mother to take care of the child by feeding and caring. The findings of this study suggest that educating fathers could raise awareness of their importance in infants’ care thus ensuring optimal infants’ feeding, growth and development.