Maternal Knowledge and Practice Regarding Children’s Nutrition and Impact on Growth of their Children in Sixth of October City, Cairo. | ||
| The Egyptian Journal of Community Medicine | ||
| Article 10, Volume 37, Issue 2, April 2019, Pages 85-94 PDF (472.81 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejcm.2019.30919 | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: Malnutrition has been responsible for 60% of the 10.9 million annual deaths and 50 to 70% of the burden of diarrheal disease and respiratory tract infections among under-five year’s old children. It is also a major cause of disability preventing children from reaching their full developmental potential. In the context of nutrition and food consumption; knowledge is generally defined as the understanding of the health benefits of different foods and nutrients. This awareness of healthy nutrition is then translated to feeding practice. Objectives: To assess mothers’ feeding knowledge and practice of their 6 to 60 months old children in 6th of October City and to evaluate the influence of this knowledge on their children’s nutritional status. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among mothers-children pairs randomly selected from two family health centers in 6th of October city using an interview questionnaire, 24 hr. dietary recall, and anthropometric measurements. Results: Interviewed participants were 252; mean mothers’ age was 27.9 ± 6 years, 81% were housewives, and 61% had higher than 2ry school education. Early initiation of breastfeeding (BF) was reported by 28.9% of mothers, 51.2% practiced exclusive BF for 4-6 months, 25.4% gave formula milk during 1st 6 month of life, 16.4% continued breast feeding up to 2 years. Stunting, wasting & overweight among children were 20.2%, 6% and 9.9% respectively. Mother`s age, education, nutritional knowledge and practice scores, and family socioeconomic status significantly affected child`s Height for age Z-score (HAZ) and Weight for Height Z-score (WHZ). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that mothers had good knowledge and practice regarding most aspects of BF and weaning yet they showed poor practice of early initiation and continuation of BF, introduction of meat and whole eggs, child`s consumption of fruits , vegetables, and eggs. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| nutrition; Knowledge; Practice; Preschool | ||
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