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Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition accounts for sixty percent of annual deaths among children under five years in developing countries, attributed to inappropriate feeding practices, including non-diverse and insufficient feeding. Improving the nutrition of children under five is a top priority for human development in these regions. Caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practice of young child feeding are essential factors for child health and growth. Aim: The primary aim of this study was to assess infants and young children feeding practice among mothers attending primary health care centers in Basrah. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 250 mothers attending five primary health care centers in Basrah. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with participants by the investigators, using a specially prepared questionnaire. Results: The study included 250 children under the age of two years, with 76% of the children being less than one year old. Only 100 (40%) of the mothers breastfed their last child at the time of the study. Among the 250 mother-child pairs who participated, 101 (63.9%) mothers exclusively breastfed. Among 86 mothers with children aged 12-24 months, 63 (73.3%) of them continued breastfeeding. The initiation of complementary feeding (CF) was ideal in only 32.5% of the respondents, with the majority initiating CF before six months. Conclusions: Infant and young child feeding practices were poor in this study. There is a need to promote optimal feeding practices during postnatal care and to utilize mass media to emphasize the importance of complementary feeding practices, especially for mothers with lower educational status.

Keywords

Infants, young children, feeding practices, Basrah

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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