Factors affecting infant and young child feeding practices among mothers with infants less than 6 months in Maganjo B village, Wakiso district

Abstract

Infant and young child feeding practices, including exclusive breastfeeding for first six months, with introduction of appropriate complimentary feeding at six months, continuing to 2 years and beyond are highly recommended. These vary, depending on a number of factors. Although breastfeeding rates have improved in Uganda, the prevalence still remains low. The aim of this study was to determine factors influencing infant feeding practices of mothers having infants less than 6 months at Maganjo B village, Maganjo parish, Nabweru subcounty in Wakiso district. A cross-sectional health facility-based quantitative survey was conducted using a validatedstructured questionnaire.. The questionnaires were administered to the mothers, one mother at a time, focus was on mothers having infants less than 6 months of age and mothers were selected during immunization times. Maganjo B village was chosen for the study because it’s a semi urban village and thus results can be used for knowledge purposes and other researches. Chi–square tests were used to determine the relationship between selected variables which included age of mother, language spoken, marriage status, educational level of mother, religion of the mother and occupational status where P<0.05 was level of significance A total of 115 mothers participated in the study. All were biological mothers of infants. 91% of the mothers initiated breastfeeding, however, at the time of data collection 20 of the mothers who had initiated breastfeeding had stopped. Fifty four % (54%) of the mothers breastfed exclusively, while 46 % had practiced mixed feeding. Factors affecting the infant and child feeding practices included age of the mother, religion of the mother, marital status, and education level of mother among others. Breastfeeding initiation is well practiced among mothers in Maganjo B village. Exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months is practiced but not to the recommendations.