Factors Affecting Complementary Feeding Pattern in Alexandria | ||
| Journal of High Institute of Public Health | ||
| Article 10, Volume 37, Issue 4, October 2007, Pages 932-950 PDF (271.92 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jhiph.2007.22570 | ||
| Author | ||
| Sally Ezzat* | ||
| Fellow of Nutrition, Student’s Hospital, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The nutritional needs of infants and young children change rapidly and their eating pattern progresses from breast milk and formula to more varied diets initiated by complementary feeding. Inappropriate feeding pattern is a major cause of the onset of malnutrition. The mother is responsible for the initiation, timing, and composition of complementary foods. This study was carried out to evaluate the impact of maternal factors on complementary feeding in Alexandria. The sample included 360 mothers of children in the age group 6-24 months attending the well baby Clinic in 3 MCH centers in Alexandria. Each mother was privately interviewed using a structured questionnaire to collect the needed data. The results show that 50-60% of the mothers derived their information about complementary feeding from family and friends, while 32.2% relied on the health team. More than 60% of the infants received complementary feeding before the age of 4 months, dairy products were the major complementary food (51.9%) followed by cereals (23.3%). The majority of the children (45.0%) were given 3 meals daily while 21.9% were given two meals only. The foods were prepared for every meal (68.6%), once daily (25.3%) or every two days (6.1%). Spicy, fatty, and sweetened foods are omitted from the infants’ food. The results show that maternal factors such as the level of education of the mother, her employment status, and age had a clear significant effect on the source of information regarding complementary feeding, age at introducing food and the type used, meal frequency, and types of foods omitted. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| complementary feeding; Feeding Pattern; alexandria | ||
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