Role of feeding practices in causation of diarrhea in young infants [06 months of age]

ABSTRACT

To study the role of feeding practices in causation of diarrhea in young infants. This was a comparative cross sectional study conducted at OPD and Indoor Pediatrics Departments of Nishtar Hospital, Multan during the period from April 2008 to August 2008. A total of one hundred and sixty two infants of 06 months of age both male and female were included in the study by simple random technique. Half of the infants were on Breast feeding and half were on bottle feeding. Data were collected from parents/attendant of the young infants by a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The Data was analyzed by applying various Statistical formulas and tests such as frequencies, percentages, Means and Chi square test etc. Out of 86 Breast fed infants diarrhea was present in 30 [35%] infants and it was absent in 56 [65%] infants. Out of total 86 bottle fed infants diarrhea was present in 48 [56%] infants and it was absent in 38 [44%] infants. The level of significance was set at 0.001. It was concluded that bottle fed infants has significantly higher instances of diarrhea than breast fed infants. The proportion of male and female infants was same in both bottle fed and breast fed infants, so gender was eliminated as a confounding factor