ABSTRACT

The study was aimed at determining the influence of breastfeeding behavior on the psychosocial and anthropometric status of children (0-24 months) in Osisioma Ngwa Local Governemnt Area, Abia State. The cross-sectional study used a simple random technique to select 110 breastfeeding mother with children of the age range 0-24 months. A well-structured and validated questionnaire was used to collect information on the socioeconomic characteristics of lactating mothers, their breastfeeding behavior, gross developmental milestone and psychosocial information on the children. The anthropometric measurement of the children were taken with a standard measuring equipment such as infantometer for those who cannot stand and stadiometer for those who can stand, and the weight was taken by a digital infants scale. Statistical package for social sciences IBM (SPSS) software (version 23.0) was used to analyze the data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation and Pearson correlation was implored for relationship of variables. A P-value of less than 0.05 was accepted as a statistical significance. Slightly more than half (53.6%) of the respondents were males and less than half (46.4%) were females. Majority (85.4%) of the respondents were delivered through vaginal and just very few (14.6%) were through caesarean (operation). The result showed that very many of the respondents never developed any condition immediately after birth while a very minute proportion had little conditions such as vomiting, stomach problems, jaundice and low birth weight. Majority (77.3%) of the respondents gave breast milk as food to their child within one hour after delivery, while just few (19.1%) gave plain water and only 0.9% gave glucose water. The result showed that very many (77.3%) of the respondents accepted colostrum as the first intake of food through breast milk to babies after birth. Vast majority (96.4%) of the respondents gave breast milk as food to their babies for the first six month of life. The result indicated that majority (95.5%) of mothers gave breast milk to their babies through the nipples as method of feeding, 2.7% gave through cups and spoons and only 1.8% gave through bottle only. The result also showed that mothers prefer sitting and lying down to feed their babies than standing or walking. Vast majority (99.1%) of the respondents were positive about breastfeeding, in that some mothers could breastfeed even in public places and also practicing exclusive breastfeeding could increase bonding between mother and babies. The result showed that vast majority (96.6%) and (92.2%) of the children were of normal body weight for both the males and females respectively. The result indicated a positive relationship between weight for height and height for length Z-score at (P<0.05). Also, the result showed a positive relationship between child’s ages in month and attained milestone at (P<0.01).