ABSRACT

This study assessed maternal knowledge on infant and young child feeding practices among mothers with infants (6-12months) in selected communities in Umuahia South, Abia State. Knowledge was assessed using WHO recommendations on child feeding, and WHO infant and young child feeding (IYCF) indicators were used to assess minimum dietary diversity of the children. Child growth was measured as length-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-length z–score using the 2006 WHO growth standards. A z-score less than -2 was classified as child undernutrition. Pearson correlation was used to determine the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics of the mothers, maternal knowledge, minimum dietary diversity and anthropometric status of the children. Data was analyzed statistically using IBM-SPSS (Special Package for Social Sciences) version 26 software.  More than half (59.4%) of the mothers had good knowledge on infant and young child feeding, while 40.6% of the mothers had poor knowledge on infant and young child feeding. 21.9% of the infants (6-12 months) were stunted and 10.0% of them were severely stunted. 29.4% of the children adhered to the recommended minimum dietary diversity guideline, while 70.6% of them had less than minimum dietary adherence. Furthermore, there was a positive relationship (P < 0.05) between minimum dietary diversity (MDD) of the children and socioeconomic status (education and income status) of the mothers. 59.4% of the respondents (mothers) had good knowledge on infant and young child feeding practices. This study showed high breastfeeding practices among the respondents, as all of the mothers attested to breastfeeding their child, and most of them (mothers) exclusively breastfed their children and there is need for healthcare providers to continue to provide nutrition education targeted at mothers during child welfare clinics, to increase their knowledge and dietary diversity; especially the right choice of meals and adequate, healthy diet.