Jessica Steinitz

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Country: USA
Background:
Research Project: Factors Influencing Nutrition Practices Among Mothers of Children Under 5 in Kolkata, India

Background: Nutrition for infants and young children can have a great impact on their mental and physical health and development, and mothers play an important role in making sure children under five get the nutrients they need. Child malnutrition is a persistent problem in Kolkata and the surrounding rural areas, and it is important to understand the reasons behind improper child feeding practices and low use of prevention and treatment services in this population. This study aims to yield a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities mothers have in giving their children a healthy diet.

Methods: A structured questionnaire was administered to 159 mothers of children under 5, at one rural site and 4 slum areas. The questionnaire covered awareness of proper breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices, awareness of anaemia and use of iron supplements, use of local nutrition programmes offered by the government and NGOs, and perceived barriers to improving their child’s nutrition. Three key informant interviews were conducted, as well as indepth interviews with both rural and urban mothers, to further explore the explanations behind nutrition-related practices and concerns.

Results: Findings revealed gaps in awareness of proper child feeding practices, particularly in prelacteal feeding, timing of initial breastfeeding, and complementary feeding. Late initiation of breastfeeding and use of prelacteals was worse among urban mothers, while late introduction of complementary foods was more common for rural mothers. Awareness of anaemia and use of iron supplements was higher among rural mothers. The most significant difference between urban and rural mothers was in the use of government and NGO nutrition services; most rural mothers reported benefiting from nutrition education and training offered at these centres, whereas urban mothers did not know where to find such services in their area or had visited and been dissatisfied with the facilities. All mothers expressed interest in further nutrition counselling.

Conclusions: There is opportunity for significant improvement in mothers’ knowledge of proper child feeding practices. Differences in nutrition services available in urban and rural areas may explain the higher nutritional awareness of rural mothers in the study. Further investigation is recommended on the reasons behind the difference in quality of nutrition education services available in urban and rural areas surrounding Kolkata.

Keywords: child malnutrition, anaemia, breastfeeding, complementary feeding, ICDS