Complementary Feeding Practices among Mothers Having 6-24 Months Children in Pokhari VDC of Doti District

Abstract

This descriptive study was carried out as a partial fulfillment of the degree of Masters of Anthropology. The objective of the study was to find out the level of knowledge & practice of complementary feeding practices. Semi-structured interview questionnaire was used to collect data from total 105 mothers. The study findings revealed that four out of ten (38.09%) respondent mothers were of 25-30 years’ age group.Half of respondents belong to Chhettri (59.2%) by ethnicity, majority (97.1%) were Hindu by religion, nuclear family six out of ten (60.9%) by family type. Majority of respondents (81.91%) of the mothers were aware about the necessity of giving additional food to the child and two out of ten (20%) knew it differs according to the age of the child. Majority of the mothers (80%) weren’t aware that 6 months was the right period of time to start additional food. Only few 20% of the mothers said correctly the amount of food that can be given to the 6 months’ child. Complementary feeding practices like amount of food given correctly to the child, frequency,& preparation of sarbottampitho by respondent mothers in Pokhari VDC were 20 percent, 32.38 percent & 16.19 percent respectively. Three fourth (74.29%) of respondents were found continuing breast feeding during the study. Uses of boil water during preparation of food were very few (8.57%) and hand washing practices before feeding were found 21.91 percent only. Similarly, the study revealed that majority (84.76%) of respondent mothers were married before the age of 20 and most (80.95%) became pregnant for the first time before the age of 20 years in Pokhari VDC. Family type (p-value=0.001) and correct level of knowledge of mothers about preparing sarbottampithokolito also showed positive relationship whereas family type (p-value=0.001) too showed positive relation with correct level of practice of mothers about food quantity given at main meal the day before. It was also found in this study that family type (p-value=0.001) with correct level of practice of mothers about hand washing with soap water before preparation of food showed positive relationship. This study may not reflect the scenario of the country but several such researches carried out in different social and cultural contest in Nepal can reflect the scenario of problem. Wrong knowledge regarding complementary feeding practices among mothers still persist and awareness level to various crucial factors important during complementary feeding was found to be unsatisfactory. It highlights the need of targeted interventions to raise awareness and provision of Health and Nutrition education package to most mothers. Poor Nutritional status arising due to lack of proper knowledge on complementary feeding is an issue that needs to be addressed at all level.