Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Infant Feeding Practices Among Rural Women in Eastern India

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Poor infant feeding practices and their consequences are one of the world's major problems and a serious obstacle to social and economic development. Breastfeeding is one of the most important determinants of child survival, birth spacing, and the prevention of childhood infections. The beneficial effects of breastfeeding depend on its initiation, duration, and the age at which the breastfed child is weaned. Breastfeeding practices vary among different regions and communities.AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of infant feeding and, to assess the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding practices among women in rural area of West Bengal, India.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on mothers of children less than two year of age attending the outpatient department of Malda Medical College and Hospital, a rural medical college in Eastern India. A total of 200 mothers were interviewed who were randomly selected. A structured, pretested and predesigned questionnaire was used to collect information on the socio-demographic profile and infant feeding practice.RESULTS: Mothers of male children were 65% and female children were 35%. 44% were literate upto middle school and 28% with primary education. 14% mothers were illiterate. 52% of mothers had the knowledge about initiation of breast feeding within 1 hour of birth whereas only 28% practiced it. 80% mothers had the knowledge of exclusive breast feeding but only 60% practiced it. 24% of infants had received prelacteal feeds and only 2% breast fed upto 24 months.CONCLUSIONS: Despite higher rates of early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding, awareness of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding was low. Creating an awareness of the advantages of breastfeeding will strengthen and support this common practice in rural communities and avoid early introduction of complementary foods for socio-cultural reasons.

The mix of good nutritional attitude and poor nutritional knowledge is associated with adequate intake of vitamin A and iron from wild fruits and vegetables among rural households in Acholi subregion of Northern Uganda

“…The poor level of nutrition knowledge observed in this study is in contrast with findings from other nutrition studies. For instance, Anand and Puri (2013) and Das and Mukherjee (2014) It was interesting to note that attitude of the respondents toward consumption of wild fruits and vegetables was good. This observation could be explained by the fact that wild fruits and vegetables contribute significantly to household food security in the study area (Loki & Ndyomugyenyi, 2016b;Oryema et al, 2013).…”

“…For instance, Anand and Puri (2013) and Das and Mukherjee (2014) found that women's nutritional knowledge on HIV management and infant feeding practices was good among urban and rural Indian population, respectively. This implies that nutritional knowledge varies with context under which it is being applied.…”

The status of nutritional knowledge, attitude and practices associated with complementary feeding in a post‐conflict development phase setting: The case of Acholi sub‐region of Uganda

“…This implies that nutrition education capacity building provided to caregivers during armed conflict emergency situation and immediately during the post-conflict recovery period is largely retained in terms of knowledge and attitude but limitedly translated into practice. The inability of caregivers to translate good nutritional knowledge and attitude to good nutrition behavior is in consonant with the generally known phenomenon that good nutritional knowledge and attitude may not necessarily guarantee good nutritional practices (Anand & Puri, 2013;Das & Mukherjee, 2014;Hasnain, Majrooh, & Anjum, 2013;Salarkia, Amini, Abdollahi, Eshrati, & Neyestani, 2014), thus suggesting that other factors could be directly responsible or playing a moderating role. Nevertheless, none of the socio-demographic factors investigated in this study could predict good nutritional practices (Table 5).…”

Breastfeeding and Health Outcomes: A Narrative Review

“…22 Ratan and Mukherjee et al reported that 64% of mothers had a good opinion about colostrum. 23 Appropriate knowledge about breastfeeding initiation time among vaginal delivery and cesarean mothers' were 76.9% and 65.2%, respectively. 24 Harnagle et al, in his study, disclosed that 63.6% of the women breastfed their newborn within 6 hours of birth.…”