Comparison of Infant feeding practices among rural and urban mothers: an observational study
Abstract
Background: Infant feeding practices are the major determinants of nutritional status of infants and young children. Present study was undertaken to compare the infant feeding practices of rural and urban mothers and the factors influencing these practices.
Methods: An observational study was carried out in department of Paediatrics, C R Gardi hospital (CRGH) associated with R D Gardi Medical College (RDGMC), Ujjain Charitable Trust Hospital (UCTH), a unit of C R Gardi Hospital and urban health centre, associated with R D Gardi Medical College, Ujjain. The present study included a total of 1000 children of which 500 were from rural and 500 from urban background over a period of one year. Information on breast feeding and complementary feeding practices was recorded.
Results: In the present study, maximum children in both rural and urban areas were between age group of 12-36 months and majority of children of rural area were males. Significantly higher proportion of rural mothers was labourer, illiterate and belongs to low socioeconomic status groups. Majority of rural mothers discarded colostrums and offered prelacteal feeds to their babies. Significantly higher proportion of urban mothers started early initiation of breast feeding after delivery. Formula milk feeding was commoner in urban babies but bottle feeding was significantly higher in rural babies.
Conclusion: Feeding practices are poor in rural area so mothers should receive counselling regarding early initiation, colostrum feeding and appropriate complementary feeding practices. Steps should be taken to improve the educational status of females especially among rural mothers.
Downloads
References
2. Molbak K, Gottschau A, Aaby P, Hojlyng N, Ingholt L, Silva AP. Prolonged breast feeding, diarrhoeal disease, and survival of children in Guinea-Bissau. BMJ. 1994 May 28; 308 (6941):1403-6. [PubMed]
3. Nath DC, Goswami G. Determinants of breastfeeding patterns in an urban society of India. Human Biology 1997; 69:557–573. [PubMed]
4. Kulkarni RN Anjenayas, Gujar R, breatsfeeding practice in an urban community of Kalambeli, Navi Mumbai Indian J of community med 2004;29 (4):179-80. [PubMed]
5. Pelto G, Levitt E, Thairu L. Improving feeding practices: current patterns, common constraints, and the design of interventions. Food and Nutr Bull 2003; 24(1):45–82. [PubMed]
6. National Family Health Survey – 2. International Institute for Population Sciences. 1998-1999. [PubMed]
7. National guidelines on infant & young child feeding, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India 2006. [PubMed]
8. WHO. Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding. Geneva: World Health Organization, ISBN 92 4 156221 8.2003.
9. Black RE, Morris SS, Bryce J. Where and why are 10 million children dying every year Lancet 2003; 361: 222634. [PubMed]
10. National Family Health Survey – 3. International Institute for Population Sciences. 2005-2006. [PubMed]
11. Nayak sunil et al, breast feeding practice in urban community of Surat. Nat J of community med 2010; 1(2):111-113.
12. Raval D et al, A study of breastfeeding practices among infants living in slums of Bhavnagar city, Gujrat India. Health line ISSN 2011; 02 (02):78-83.
13. Gupta A, Venkatesh M. Patil, Sharad G. Tenglikar, Srinivas reddy, Vijayanath.V, Breast Feeding Practices Among Mothers In Urban Field Practice Area of M.R. Medical College, Gulbarga, J Pharmaceut Biomed Sci 2011;04(04):1-3.
14. Kumar D, Goel N, Mittal PC, Misra P. Influence of infant-feeding practices on nutritional status of under five children. Indian Pediatr 2006 May;73(5):417-21. [PubMed]
15. Madhu K, Chowdary S, Masthi R. Breastfeeding practice and Newborn care in rural areas: A descriptive cross sectional study. Indian J of community med 2009; 34 (3):243-246. [PubMed]
16. Bhardwaj N, Hasan, Badrul S.; Zaheer, Mohammad: Breast-Feeding and Weaning Practices- A Rural Study in Uttar Pradesh. The Journal of Family Welfare. March 1991. 39(1) 23-29. [PubMed]
17. Roy S, Dasgupta A, Pal B. Feeding practices of children in an urban slum of Kolkata. Indian J Community Med 2009; 34:362-3. [PubMed]
18. Medhi GK, Mahanta J. Breastfeeding, weaning practices and nutritional status of infants of tea garden workers of Assam. Indian Pediatr ; 2004 Dec;41(12):1277-9. [PubMed]
19. Fazilli A, Bhat IA, Iqbal M, Abid A, Jabeen R. Infant feeding practices of multiparous women attending the antenatal clinic in a tertiary care hospital. Int J Med Public Health 2011; 1:47-50.
20. Bobhate PS, Shrivastava SR. Breastfeeding practices and factors associated with it: A cross sectional study among tribal women in khardi primary health centre, Thane, India. Int J Public Health Res 2012; 2:115-21. [PubMed]
21. Bavdekar SB, Bavdekar MS, Kasla RR, Raghunandana KJ, Joshi SY, Hathi GS. Infant Feeding Practices in Bombay Slums. Indian Pediatr1994 Sep;31(9):1083-7. [PubMed]
22. Kushawaha KP, Mathur GP, Prakash O. Infant feeding practices of peri-urban areas of Gorakhpur. Indian Pediatr 1987 Oct;24(10):899-901. [PubMed]
23. Sinhababu A. Dipta K. Mukhopadhyay, Tanmay K. Panja, Asit B. Saren, Nirmal K. Mandal, and Akhil B. Biswas, Infant and Young Child-feeding Practices in Bankura District, West Bengal, India. J Health Popul Nutr 2010 Jun; 28(3):294-299.
24. Taneja DK, Renuka saha, Pratibha Dabas, V.P. Gautam, Y. Tripathy,M. Mehra. Astudy of Infant Feeding Practices and the Underlying Factors in a Rural Area of Delhi. Indian J Community Health 2003; 28(3):2003-7.
OAI - Open Archives Initiative
