ABSTRACT

Inappropriate complementary feeding is a major cause of child malnutrition and death. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of complementary feeding among mothers and anthropometric status of children 6-24 months in semi-urban area of Ikwuano Local Government Area in Abia State.  A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 150 lactating mothers. Data on socio demographic/economic characteristics of mother/caregiver, complementary feeding practices, knowledge and attitude towards complementary feeding and the anthropometric measurements of the children were collected using structured and validated questionnaire. The IBM SPSS version 22.0 computer programme was used to analyze the data. WHO anthro was used to determine the anthropometric status of the children. Data obtained were described using frequencies and percentages. Chi square was used to determine the relationship between complementary feeding practices and anthropometric status of children. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Result revealed that some (42.7%) of them were between 26-35 years and majority (87.3%) were married. Some (45.3%) of the mothers completed their secondary and tertiary education, some (34.7%) of them were traders and some (26.0%) earned above N 160,000 in a month. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in this study was 40.0%. Majority (81.3%) of the children were fed with breast milk within one hour of birth. Although most (63.3%) of them were still breast feeding, 42.7% of them stopped at 9-12 months and most (65.3%) of the respondents initiated complementary feeding at 5-6 months. Majority (80.7%) of the children were given snacks outside the main meal or for treat and majority (92.7%) ate from their own plate. Some (36.0%) of the children were fed with mashed foods while 26.0% were fed with family foods chopped or mashed. A little above half (50.7%) of them were fed more than 4 meals a day and majority (87.3%) fed their children both homemade and commercial complementary foods The homemade baby foods mostly fed to the children were mashed yam (56.7%), pap from maize (65.3%), soup and eba/fufu/semo (86.0%), mashed rice (39.3%) and mashed beans (34.7%).Most (74.7%) of them had good nutrition knowledge and more than half (58.0%) of them  had positive attitude towards complementary feeding. The prevalence of underweight, stunting, wasting and overweight were 30.0%, 21.3%, 24.6% and 14.0% respectively. There was a significant relationship between other foods given to child (p=0.011), how child is fed at home (p=0.010), consistency of CF (p=0.035), number of meals fed to the child (p=0.001) and the weight for height of the children. Appropriate complementary feeding education emphasizing timely initiation and meal diversity is necessary to improve knowledge and feeding practices of mothers especially the young, single and uneducated ones.