Infant Feeding Practices of Mothers and Nutritional Status of Infants in Vhembe District in the Limpopo Province
S. Afr. j. clin. nutr. (Online)
; 21(2): 36-41, 2008.
Article
in English
| AIM (Africa)
| ID: biblio-1270485
Responsible library:
CG1.1
ABSTRACT
Objective:
To determine the breast-feeding and weaning practices of mothers and the nutritional status of infants in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province.Design:
A descriptive and exploratory study was done. A sample of 185 mothers with 185 infants 12 months and younger was selected from five primary healthcare clinics. A validated questionnaire; which consisted of questions relating to demographic data; breast-feeding and weaning practices; was used. The weight and length measurements of the infants were taken.Results:
The majority (97) of the mothers were still breast-feeding at the time of the interviews. Only 7;6practised exclusive breastfeeding;however; while 43;2had introduced solid foods at three months and 15before two months. The weaning food given by most of the mothers was maize-meal soft porridge and had been introduced before four months of age. The Z-score classification was used and showed that stunting (18;9); underweight (7) and wasting (7) were present among the infants but that only wasting was found to be a disorder of public-health significance.The nutritional status of the infants was therefore not significantly influenced by the breast-feeding and weaning practices of the mothers or other demographic parameters.Conclusion:
Breast-feeding was still practised by many of the mothers but exclusive breast-feeding was rare
Full text:
Available
Database:
AIM (Africa)
Main subject:
Breast Feeding
/
Nutritional Status
/
Infant
/
Mothers
Language:
English
Journal:
S. Afr. j. clin. nutr. (Online)
Year:
2008
Document type:
Article