Assessment of the Nutritional Status of Bottle-Fed Infants and the Prevalence of Infections, Allergy and Diarrhea among Bottle Fed Infants and Its Comparison with Exclusively Breast Fed Infants Aged 0-6 Months

Abstract

Title: Assessment of the Nutritional Status of Bottle-fed Infants and the prevalence of infections, allergy and diarrhea among them and its comparison with exclusively breast fed inafants aged 0-6 months. Background: For the past few years, the rate of bottle-feeding practice during the first six months of the child's life has shown a sharp increase, which necessitated to conduct a study to highlight the nutritional status of bottle-fed infants. Objectives: To assess the nutritional status of infants who are bottle-fed aged 0-6 months. To assess the prevalence of infections, diarrhea and allergy among bottle-fed infants. To compare the nutritional status of bottle-fed infants with exclusively breast fed infants. Methodology: The data was collected from hospitals all over Karachi by purposive sampling. The sample size was 100 of which 50 were bottle-fed infants and 50 were exclusively breast-fed infants. The tool that was used to collect data was a questionnaire that covered different aspects including demographic, anthropometric measurements and overall health to assess the nutritional status of bottle-fed infants. A chi-square test was applied. Result: The results of the study revealed that only 21% of exclusively breast-fed infants had normal weight when compared to bottle-fed infants i.e. 25%. Also, no significant differences were found in the nutritional status of both the groups (p>0.05) as 46% EBF infants were wasted, 70% infants were stunted while 44% were overweight when compared to BF infants i.e. 44% and 60% and 30%, respectively. However, the incidence of allergies, infections (cold and flu) and diarrhea was significantly (p<0.05) more prevalent in BF infants when compared to EBF infants. Conclusion: The study concluded that there are no significant differences in the nutritional status of exclusively breast-fed and bottle-fed infants. Whereas those infants who are bottle fed for the first six months are more prone to allergies, diarrhea and infections when compared to exclusively breast-fed infants.

Assessment of Bottle-Feeding Practices in Kassala, Eastern Sudan: A Community-Based Study

“…Various studies evidenced better cognitive development and intelligence quotients in breastfed infants compared to bottle-feed ones [ 6 ]. Previous studies have shown that bottle-feeding was a key factor for child morbidity and mortality in different settings [ 7 ], [ 8 ], [ 9 ]. For example, in the Philippines bottle-fed infants were found to be at high risk of hospitalisation due to infections [ 10 ].…”

Clinicoetiological Study of Acute Diarrhea in Children under 5 Years Age Group

“…Infants who are bottle fed are 2.8 times more likely to develop gastrointestinal [21] . A study by Hussain Z Khan et al [22] , diarrhea was more common in BF infants than in exclusively breastfed (EBF) infants as it shows that in BF infants 26% were suffering from diarrhea whereas 24% EBF infants were suffering. In present study it was found that patients with grade 1 malnutriton 9 (52.9%)suffered from no dehydration and 8(47.1%) suffered some dehydration.…”

Causes and Risk Factors of Hospitalization among Under-five Children in Kassala, Eastern Sudan

“…Breastfeeding, particularly when exclusive and prolonged, protects against severe morbidities such as diarrhea and respiratory infections [4]. Various studies documented that bottle-feeding is associated with child morbidity (e.g., diarrhea, respiratory infection, and allergies) and mortality [9], [10], [43], [44], [45], [46]. For example, in Sudan, bottle-fed children were at high risk of malnutrition and hospitalization due to infectious causes as 83.3% of hospitalized children used bottle feeding [9].…”

“…After participant acceptance and success in fulfilling the study inclusion criteria, a questionnaire was applied to collect relevant information from mothers through a face-to-face interview. The questionnaire was developed based on the previous studies [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19]. It included demographics (e.g., education, age, and occupation), mode of delivery (vaginal delivery, and cesarean delivery), infant's information (e.g., age, gender, and history of hospitalization over the past 6 months), and the main cause for hospitalization.…”

“…Based on the results of the previous studies on under-five children's hospitalization, the predictors of admission were non-exclusive breastfeeding; delay of initiation of breastfeeding; bottle-feeding; unemployed mothers; having two or more children; and complementary feeds given by a person other than the mother; prolonged rupture of membrane; place of delivery; intrapartum fever; and APGAR score <7 at 5 th min [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9]. Likewise, exclusive breastfeeding and avoidance of bottle feeding have been documented as key predictors of child survival [9], [10], [11], [12]. Besides, child hospitalization has a heavy burden on the economy [4], [13].…”