INVESTIGATION INTO INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING (IYCF) PRACTICES AMONG MOTHERS IN FISHING COMMUNITIES IN BADAGRY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, LAGOS STATE

Abstract

Complementary breastfeeding (CF) is the opportune presentation of suitable and secure nourishments to children matured 6 months and over because it permits newborn children and youthful children to meet advancing dietary prerequisites vital for ideal development, advancement and great wellbeing in this manner proceeding breastfeeding to two a long time and past. Writing uncovers that sustenance is generally destitute in angling communities in show disdain toward of the wealth of protein. Malnutrition and food strategies in fishing communities are well studied; however, it was noted that the “lack of focus on nutritionally vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children” as a point of weakness. However, little is known about the complementary feeding practices of mothers in fishing communities, hence, this study. This study aimed to investigate the complementary feeding practices among mothers in fishing communities in Badagry Local Government Area, Lagos State. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study which employed a multistage sampling technique to select 197 mother-child pairs in three fishing communities. Information was obtained on the socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, feeding practices and anthropometry using quantitative methods. Data was summarized using frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations for descriptive statistics while Chi square values and correlation co-efficient were used to summarize inferential statistics. Level of significance was set at 95% confidence interval. More than half of the mothers (59.9%) were Ogu, 35.5% were Yoruba, and few were from Hausa and other ethnic groups, 2.0% and 2.5% respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the age of mothers and children was 29.6 ± 5.6 years and 13.8 ± 5.4 months respectively. About 38.6% of the mothers had secondary education, 23.9% had no formal education and 7.6% had tertiary education. More than half of the mothers (53.3%) introduced complementary foods at age 6 months with more than half also (59.4%) still currently breastfeeding. The knowledge score of majorities (72.6%) of the mothers in relation to Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices was fair. Of the total 197 children studied, 58.4% met minimum meal frequency, 75.1% received minimum dietary diversity (≥4 food groups), 54.8% received minimum acceptable diet and only 29.4% received appropriate complementary feeding. Factors such as mother’s income (p=0.048), mother’s place of work (p=0.013), and family type (p=0.007) were found to be associated with minimum dietary diversity. Appropriate complementary feeding was found to be associated to occupation (p=0.043), place of work (p=0.035) and number of children (p=0.030). This study revealed that the complementary feeding practices were inadequate which could lead to high prevalence of malnutrition which is of public health significance. Therefore efforts should be made towards nutrition interventions capable of improving the complementary feeding practices of the mothers.