Knowledge and Hygiene Practices among Mothers While Infant and Young Child Feeding in Raichur, Karnataka:A Cross Sectional Study

Introduction: With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, improving infantand young child feeding practices has never been more urgent. While breastfeeding provides optimal nutrition to the child and prevent infections, the timely initiation and age appropriate complementary feeding can substantially reduce stunting and related burden of disease. Poor hygiene and subsequent diarrhea may also contribute to stunting through chronic gut inflammation.

Objective: To study the knowledge and hygiene practices among mothers during infant and young child feeding.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban field practice area of Navodaya Medical College. A study population of 375 mothers having children of less than two years age were selected by systematic random sampling method. Data was collected after informed consent regarding socio-demographic factors, knowledge and hygiene practices during child feedingfrom mothers. Data was analyzed using EPI Info 7 and expressed in terms of percentages, proportions.

Results: The study showed 50.1% of mothers had correct knowledge on duration of exclusive breastfeeding and 42.7% on appropriate time of initiating complementary feeding. 28.35% of mothers had the habit of washing hands with soap and water before feeding the child. Only 12.8% of mothers had given safe water for drinking to child.

Conclusion: In our study half of the mothers had the right knowledge on appropriate duration of exclusive breastfeeding while knowledge on initiation of complementary feeding is much less. Hygiene practices are very low and needs more attention.