Proper breastfeeding practices are of utmost importance as it promotes the health of both mother and infant.
Many studies in western settings have suggested that breastfeeding has a protective effect on childhood obesity.
This study was aimed to identify the relationship between nutritional status of the children (6 months to 2 years)
and breastfeeding practices of their mothers in Galle Municipality area. A cross-sectional study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods. A representative sample
of 198 children aged between 6 months to 2 years was selected from 16 public health midwife areas of Galle
Municipality area using a simple random sampling method. A questionnaire was administered to caregiver of
those children. Lengths and weights of all children were measured and the nutritional status was assessed
according to the WHO Growth Standards. Chi-square test and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficientMajority (83%) of children were exclusively breastfed for 4-6 months while almost all (99.4%) the mothers were
educated about good breastfeeding practices by public health midwives. Of the children, 32.8% were stunted and
21% were wasted. Bivariate analysis showed a significant association between duration of exclusive
breastfeeding and current weight for age (P=0.014) and weight for height (P <0.001) of children. Unemployment
of the mother was significantly associated with satisfactory levels of current weight for age (P=0.002), height for
age (P<0.001) and duration of exclusive breast feeding (P=0.001). The association of socioeconomic status of the
family and the growth parameters of children was not significant (p>0.05). A weak positive correlation between
total duration of breastfeeding and weight for age (r=0.2403) and height for age (r=0.2403) was perceived.
were used for analysis.
