A study of nutritional status of children and breastfeeding practices of their mothers in Galle Municipality area

Abstract

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.