Breastfeeding Knowledge and Practices among Mothers of Children under 2 Years of Age Living in a Military Barrack in Southwest Nigeria

Background: Human milk is uniquely superior as a source of nutrition for infants, and breastfeeding has many benefits. This study determined the breastfeeding knowledge and practices of women who have children aged 0-2 years living in a Naval Barracks. Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was carried out among 220 women in a Naval Barracks selected using systematic random sampling method. Pre-tested questionnaires were administered by trained interviewers, and data was analyzed using Epi info 2000 and Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 19. Results: There was generally fair knowledge about breastfeeding among the women. Most of the respondents (97.3%) had ever breastfed their babies, 56.5% of them initiated breastfeeding within an hour of delivery, 24.1% admitted that they gave pre-lacteal feeds, 74.1% practiced exclusive breastfeeding for a mean period of 4.98 months and 30.7% engaged in bottle-feeding. Several factors were significantly associated with breastfeeding practices. Conclusions: Breastfeeding practices varied among the respondents despite the fair knowledge. Global Health Implications: This study reveals the need to educate women and communities worldwide particularly in low-income countries about good breastfeeding practices. Targeting these women will help to improve maternal and child health

Complementary Feeding Knowledge, Practices, and Dietary Diversity among Mothers of Under-Five Children in an Urban Community in Lagos State, Nigeria

Background and Objectives: Inappropriate complementary feeding is a major cause of child malnutrition and death. This study determined the complementary feeding knowledge, practices, minimum dietary diversity, and acceptable diet among mothers of under-five children in an urban Local Government Area of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Eti-Osa area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select 355 mothers and infants. Data was collected using a pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire and 24-hour diet recall was used to assess dietary diversity. Data was analyzed using Epi-Info. Results: Knowledge of complementary feeding was low (14.9%) and was associated with older mothers’ age, being married, and higher level of education. The prevalence of timely initiation of complementary feeding (47.9%), dietary diversity (16.0%) and minimum acceptable diet for children between 6 and 9 months (16%) were low. Overall, appropriate complementary feeding practice was low (47.0%) and associated with higher level of mothers’ education and occupation. Conclusions and Global Health Implications: Complementary feeding knowledge and practices were poor among mothers of under-5 especially the non-literate. Reduction of child malnutrition through appropriate complementary feeding remains an important global health goal. Complementary feeding education targeting behavioral change especially among young, single and uneducated mothers in developing countries is important to reduce child morbidity and mortality. Key words: Complementary Feeding • Infant Feeding • Infant and Child Health • Mothers of Under-five Children • Pediatrics Copyright © 2017 Olatona et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited