Feeding practices and nutritional status of infants in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania

Abstract

Breast feeding practice especially exclusive breast feeding (EBF) is a major determinant of child growth and development. In Tanzania, most women breastfeed their infants for long periods, but many introduce alternative feeding too early in life. The objective of this study was to determine factors affecting EBF and the relationship between feeding practices and the nutritional status of infants. This crosssectional survey, using a semi-structured questionnaire, was conducted in Morogoro Municipality in Tanzania. The study involved lactating women recruited from five randomly selected health facilities. Demographic, clinical, knowledge and practices related to infant feeding as well as infant anthropometric information were collected. Infant nutritional status was assessed based on weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height. There were wide variations in knowledge and practice of breastfeeding among women. Majority (92%) of the respondents gave colostrums to infants although more than 50% did not know its benefits. Eight percent of the respondents discarded colostrums on the account that it is not good for their neonates. Only 23.1% of the respondents thought that infants should be breastfed exclusively during the first six months of infancy. Ninety-eight percent of infants < 1 month of age received breast milk only, compared with 28.5% of infants aged 2-3 months and 22.3% among those who were above 3 months of age. No child in the ≥4 months old was exclusively breastfed. Over 80% of the infants had normal weights, 13% were stunted and 8% wasted. EBF was associated with higher scores for height-for-age Z (P<0.05) and weight-for-height Z (P<0.01). Age, education level and occupation of respondents were important predictors of EBF. Overall, breast feeding practices in the study population were largely suboptimal. As a result, considerable proportions of children had poor health indicators. Thus, correct breastfeeding practices should be supported and promoted to improve the well-being of children. _____________________________________________________________________________

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“…Also, there were no significant differences (p=0.254) in the frequency of diarrhea among both groups of infants. In addition, the frequency of allergy was also prevalent in bottle fed infants with a significant difference (p=0.001).This correlates with a cohort study in Sweden where exclusive breast feeding was associated with a preventive effect of on the early development of allergic diseases [7] (Figure 4).…”

Addressing barriers to exclusive breast-feeding in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and programmatic implications

“…Twenty-three studies examined maternal employment in relation to EBF practices, including fifteen crosssectional (17)(18)(19)26,31,32,(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(46)(47)(48)(49) , four qualitative (30,33,45,50) , two mixed-methods (21,23) and two cohort studies (24,25) . Definitions of maternal employment varied across the studies and included employment status, type of occupation, return to work following childbirth and/or employment cited as a barrier to EBF.…”

“…Seven studies (six cross-sectional and one mixed-methods) reported a statistically significant association between maternal employment and EBF (18,21,31,34,(47)(48)(49) . Five of these seven studies found women who selfdefined as a housewife or as unemployed were more likely to practise EBF than woman who had formal employment (18,21,34,48,49) . A cross-sectional study from Nigeria found that women who returned to work had a 51·8 % lower likelihood of practising EBF than those who did not (P < 0·05) (48) .…”

“…Malawi Qualitative Otoo et al (33) 35 Ghana Qualitative X X Raghavan et al (43) 400 India Cohort Safari et al (49) 130 Tanzania Cross-sectional X Seid et al (34) 819 Ethiopia Cross-sectional X X Setegn et al (21) 603 Ethiopia Mixed methods X X Sharma and Kanani (37) 648 India Cross-sectional X Sohag and Memon (32) …”

Characteristics of Feeding Practices and Nutritional Status of Infants in Selected Villages at Dhamrai

“…Another study conducted in Morogoro Municipality in Tanzania, where eight percent of the mothers discarded colostrum on the account that it was not good for their neonates. 28 Fifty percent mothers started complementary feeding after six months' completion of age and only 27(9.7%) at four months of age. This finding is in conformity with the findings of Meshram and co-workers which established that about 57% children of 6-11 months old received complementary feeding in rural Madhya Pradesh.…”