ABSTRACT

Inadequate child feeding practices among children aged 6-24months is a major cause of malnutrition in developing countries. The health outcomes of a child are directly proportional to their feeding practices, which are, in turn, dependent on the knowledge and practices of the mother. The first one years of a child’s life are crucial to ensure appropriate growth and development. Poor feeding practices during the first one year of life have both immediate and long-term consequences. It is estimated that improper feeding of children leads to about one-third of the cases of malnutrition worldwide. Ensuring health, growth and development of children requires adequate nutrition during infancy and early childhood.  This study assessed the   anthropometry and child feeding practices of children 6- 24 months in Umuahia North LGA in  Abia State . A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the study sample. Four wards and their health centers out of all the 12 wards and health centers that make up the LGA was used. Breastfeeding mothers were the respondents randomly selected in each health center which makes the total of 340. Structured and validated questionnaires were used in data collection. Data collection included social demographics characteristics of mothers and infants, nutritional knowledge of mothers, knowledge of mothers on infant feeding practices, breastfeeding practices of mothers, complementary feeding practices of mothers and nutritional status of the children. Data obtained from this study were analyzed using descriptive statistics - frequency, percentages and pearlson’s correlation. The statistical software SPSS version 22 was used for analysis, cross tabulation and chi square analysis were used to examine the relationship between the variables. Significance was accepted at P < 0.05. This study revealed that 44.1% of the respondents had knowledge that foods apart from breastfeeding should be introduced at 6 months while others thinks that it should be introduced above 6 months. Most of the respondents in this study 57.1% were aware of exclusive breastfeeding and half 50.1% heard about exclusive breastfeeding from health workers. The nutritional status reveals that 160 were male while 180 were female.12.2% of females were severely stunted ,underweight and wasted compare to 8.8%males. There was a positive and strong relationship between average nutritional knowledge of mothers and nutritional status of the children. Recommendation includes that there should be awareness on exclusive breastfeeding and more on complementary feeding through televisions, radio, and other mass media.