Mothers’ Knowledge and Practice on Optimal Complementary Feeding

Abstract

Introduction. Optimal complementary feeding during first two year of life is crucial for optimal development and growth of infant and young children during first two years of life. Purpose. The goal of this study is to investigate mothers’ knowledge and practices about the complementary feeding among infants and young children age from four months to two years of life. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was designed to interview 210 mothers of infant and young children, aged from 4 month to two year who attended outpatient pediatrics clinic in Al-Mawani Teaching Hospital in Basrah, the relation between mothers’ age and educational level, with their knowledge and practices about complementary feeding was evaluated. Results. The results revealed only 28.57% of the participated mothers know the proper time of starting complementary food, and about 52% of the mothers start complementary food before six months of age. We didn’t found statistical significant relation between mothers’ age, mothers’ education level and mothers’ knowledge and practices, apart from a significant relation between level of mothers’ education level and correct frequency of introduction new food per week (p-value 0.001). Conclusion. There is a need to promote optimal feeding practices among mothers to insure optimal complementary feeding.