Diversification in complementary feeding of children is important in meeting the need for essential nutrients. This study investigated diet diversification in complementary feeding of children between the ages of 0 and 24 months. The cross-sectional study was carried out in Osun State of Nigeria and 450 mothers were interviewed. Results revealed that diet was based on cereals, roots, and tubers with little animal products. The consumption of protein-rich foods, both of plant and animal origin, was particularly low. None of these foods recorded 50% of total consumption, except for milk with 50.4%. Fewer than 30% of the children population consumed legumes. Foods such as meat, eggs, and fish recorded below 50% consumption as well. Cheese was not consumed at all in the rural communities. Only 9.7% consumed vegetables and 12.9% consumed fruits. Most of the children experienced stunting (58.2%), followed by wasting (7.8%), and underweight (23.8%). Diet diversity was also shown to be associated with socioeconomic status of households. Diet diversity can be recommended for achieving diet adequacy in complementary feeding of young children.

The study investigated the effect of maternal employment on breastfeeding and child care practices of mothers in Southwestern Nigeria. Information was collected on maternal socio economic characteristics, care and feeding practices of 450 mothers selected by multi stage random sampling procedure from both urban and rural communities. Results revealed that 46.9% mothers spent more than 8 hours at work, 62.7% worked outside their homes and 73.1% spent about 17-24 hours with their children per day. Children received prelacteal feeds such as water (61.1%), concoction (34%), glucose (32%) and infant formula (54.7%). Mean number of breastfeeding per day was 9.7 ± 3.9; only 24% were exclusively breastfed, 37.3% introduced complementary foods at 6 months and 68.6% terminated breastfeeding between 13-18 months. Mothers that were engaged in work outside their home in offices and factories practiced exclusive breastfeeding. Mothers below 30 years of age used prelacteal feeds, did not practice exclusive breastfeeding (58.3%), terminated breastfeeding earlier and combined the use of feeding bottles, plates and cups for feeding (50.3%) when compared with mothers between 40-50 years. Mothers in the rural areas used water as prelacteal feeds (85.3%) mothers in urban communities used infant formula (65.4%). A significant association was found between maternal places of employment. It is strongly associated with the timing of introduction of complementary foods (p < 0.02) and the number of snack consumed/day (p < 0.03). Conclusively, maternal place of work positively influences the adoption of appropriate infant feeding practice. Working mothers should receive more support in the work place for them to practice appropriate feeding practices.

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Food insecurity and malnutrition are persistent problems in Nigeria. Analysis of spatial pattern of these problems at community level is important to target the affected with appropriate intervention. This study determined the prevalence and spatial pattern of food insecurity and childhood malnutrition in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State Nigeria. Data were obtained from 409 mothers of under-five children across 40 communities in the study area, which included information on socioeconomic characteristics, food insecurity, hygiene practices, height, weight and coordinate of points of survey. Community was the unit of analysis and Geographical Information System was utilized to present visual information about the communities and descriptive statistics to present the nonspatial data. More than half (52.6%) of households were classified as food insecure. Overall prevalence of childhood stunting, underweight, and wasting were 41.6%, 19.8% and 5.6% respectively. Spatial pattern of food insecurity and malnutrition varied across the study area and suggested that the rural communities have higher degree of food insecurity. In conclusion, there is high prevalence of food insecurity, stunting, wasting and underweight among under-five children and their distribution varied across the study area. The maps generated from this study could be used for proper resource allocation and targeting of nutrition intervention and development efforts.

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