ABSTRACT

The first 1000 days of life are critical for child development, yet maternal capabilities and socioeconomic factors continue to shape nutrition outcomes and persistent malnutrition challenges. The study assessed maternal capabilities, knowledge, attitudes and nutrition practices among pregnant women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in Isuikwuato Local Government Area (LGA). This study employed a community-based cross-sectional design. Six (6) villages were randomly selected in the Local Government Area (LGA) representing 75% of the total villages in the area. Using quota sampling, 186 consenting women of reproductive age (WRA) were recruited from the households across the six villages. With the use of semi-structured questionnaires, data on background data, socioeconomic data, knowledge, attitudes on nutrition practice and maternal capabilities were collected. Descriptive statistics using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation was used to analyze the data, while Pearson’s correlation analysis was employed to examine relationships between maternal capabilities and infant feeding practices, with significance level at p < 0.05. The IBM-SPSS statistics version 26.0 was used to analyse the data. About 50.5% of the pregnant WRA were aged 25-29 years, 15.6% aged 20-24 years while 33.9% aged 30-35 years. Majority of the pregnant WRA had tertiary education (83.9%), secondary education (15.6%) and no formal education (0.5%). The pregnant WRA were unemployed (13.4%), self-employed (51.1%), government employed (22.0%). Some of the pregnant WRA (83.3%) earned >N71,000, less (12.9%) earned N51,000 – N70,000 while little (3.8%) earned <N30,000. Much (73.1%) pregnant WRA had greater decision making autonomy, while some had restrictive gender-norm attitude (61.3%), low levels of social support (91.9%), low self-efficacy (61.3%), high levels of time stress (91.4%) and high depressive symptoms (58.6%). Despite high knowledge levels, negative attitudes toward IYCF persist due to restrictive gender norms, time stress, and poor maternal mental health. Interventions should address restrictive gender norms and encourage positive attitudes toward child nutrition to improve maternal and child health.