ABSTRACT 

Malnutrition is common among children aged 6-24 months in developing countries.it increases the risk of mortality. Interventions to improve infant-feeding holds the promise of reducing malnutrition among these children.This study assessed the feeding pattern and anthropometric indices of infants (6-24 months)in umuahia north LGA, Abia state. The study was a cross-sectional study. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 250 mothers with child aged 6-24months. Data on the socio-demographic  characteristics of the parents, continuous and complementary feeding practices, food frequency  and anthropometric status were collected using structured, pretested and validated questionnaire. The IBM SPSS version 20.0 computer programme ,WHO Anthro plus, T-test, Chi- square and Pearson Correlation was used to analyze the data.Result from the study showed that (72.0%) of mothers and fathers attained higher institution, some (33.2% and 30.4%) of mothers and fathers were civil servants respectively. Majority (64.0%) of child was aged 7-12 months.(48.4% and 51.6%) are male and female respectively. Majority (97.6%) continued breastfeeding after 6 months,(17.2%) continued breastfeeding until 1year of age.(41.2%) introduced complementary food at 6months,while (40.4%) introduced complementary food at 7 months.Prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight in the study was 11.6%, 38%, 9.6% respectively.This study showed that despite the increase in the rate of compliance of continuous breastfeeding and complementary feeding ,malnutrition was still high among infants in the study area.