A Comparative Study to Assess the level of Knowledge and Practice on Infant Feeding Practices among Working and Non-Working Mothers at selected areas in Puducherry

 

Ms. Mabal Abisha

Lecturer, Department of Community Health Nursing, Shri Anand Institute of Nursing, Rajkot, Gujarat.

 

ABSTRACT:

A comparative study to assess the level of knowledge and practice on infant feeding practices among working and non-working mothers at selected areas in Puducherry. The objectives of the study were (a) To assess the level of knowledge and practice on infant feeding practices among working and non-working mothers (b) To compare the level of knowledge and practice on infant feeding practice among working and non-working mothers (c) To associate the level of knowledge and practice on infant feeding practice among mothers with selected socio demographic variables. The research approach selected for the study was quantitative research approach and descriptive research design. The study was conducted at selected areas at Puducherry. Total 140 samples were selected in both group (70 – working mothers and 70 non-working mothers) based on convenient sampling. The researcher used self-administered structured questionnaire for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that when comparing to working mother non-working infant’ mothers have better level of knowledge and practice on infant feeding practices. There was a statistically difference between the level of knowledge and practice among working and nonworking mothers at the level of ‘p’ value 0.000. The level of knowledge among working mothers was significantly associated with age, among non-working mothers was significantly associated to source of information at the level of P value <0.05. The level of practice on infant feeding among working mothers was statistically associated with age of the mother and sex of the child and among non-working mothers was statistically associated with age at the level of P value <0.05. The researcher recommended effective behaviour change programme and continuous monitoring to improve infant feeding.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

WHO and UNICEF have emphasized the first 1000 days of life i.e., the 270 days in-utero and the first two years after birth as the critical window period for nutritional interventions.¹ Infants grow at a very rapid rate. The rate of growth at this stage is incomplete if the infant was not fed adequately. As infant weighing around 3 kg at birth doubles its weight by six months and by one year the weight triples and the body grow rapidly, both structurally and functionally during the early years of life and then later on, the growth slows down. Most of the growth in the nervous systems and brain is complete in first two years of life. In order to achieve optimum growth and development, there is an increased demand for a regular supply of raw material in the form of better nutrition along with breastmilk.²

 

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

The 4^th National Family Health survey (2015 to 2016): In India 54.9% of children under age 6 months were exclusively breastfed, 42.7 % of Children age 6-8 months receiving solid or semi-solid food and breastmilk and only 9.6% of total children aged 6-23 months receiving an adequate diet.

 

Undernutrition is estimated to be associated with 2.7 million child deaths annually or 45% of all child deaths. Infant and young child feeding is a key area to improve child survival and promote healthy growth and development.³ India ranks lowest among South Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in breastfeeding practices, with only 44 per cent women being able to breastfeed their babies within one hour of delivery.⁴  

 

Feeding behavior of a working woman is a combination of her perceptions, awareness, facilities, and support. It is more challenging for employed women to equilibrate their feeding responsibilities and work. The positive impact of early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months has been clearly demonstrated to prevent nearly one fifth of neonatal deaths whereas a delay of just one day has been shown to advance the death rate by 2.6 times.⁵ 

 

OBJECTIVES:

1.     To assess the level of Knowledge and Practice on Infant feeding practices among Working and Non-Working Mothers.

2.     To compare the level of Knowledge and Practice on Infant feeding practices among Working and Non-Working Mothers.  

3.     To associate the level of Knowledge and Practice on Infant feeding practices among Mothers with selected Socio Demographic Variables.

 

MATERIAL AND METHOD:

Research design:

A descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. 

 

Research study setting:

The present study was conducted in selected areas in Puducherry. Researcher selected 3 areas i.e. Reddiyarpalayam, Lawspet, Kalpet for her study by lottery method. These three areas located respectively 5.5 km, 5.3 km and 15.5 km distance and each carries travel time of 15mins, 15 mins and 20 mins from college respectively.

 

Population:

All the mothers with children below the age group of one year residing at selected areas in Puducherry.

 

Sample:

Mothers with children below the age of one year residing at selected areas in Puducherry, falling under the inclusion criteria and available during the period of data collection.  

 

Sample size:

140 mothers (70 working mothers and 70 non-working mothers). 

 

Sampling technique:

Non-probability convenience sampling technique was adopted to select the samples from the selected area.  

 

RESULTS:

·         Majority 48 (68.6%) of the working mothers and 60 (85.7%) of them have moderate level of knowledge on infant feeding practices. Majority 61 (87.1%) of working mothers and 33 (47.1%) of non-working mother have poor level of infant feeding practices.

·         The calculated unpaired ‘t’ value of practice scores of working and non-working mothers was -5.623 which was found to be statistically significant at the level of ‘p’ value <0.001.  There is a significant difference between the level of knowledge and level of practice on infant feeding practices among working mother and non-working mother.

·         Fifteen (20%) of the working mother and 39 (52%) of nonworking mother were fed their babies exclusive breastfeeding for six months. Majority 36 (48%) of working mother and 39 (52%) of the non-working mother fed their babies exclusive breast feeding till five months. Majority 62 (82.7%) of the working mothers said that their occupation was the reason for discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding before 6 months. Majority 51 (68%) of nonworking mothers mentioned that they discontinued breastfeeding before 6 months as advised by elders in the family.

·         The level of knowledge on infant feeding practices of working mother was significantly associated with age of the mother. The level of knowledge on infant feeding practices of non-working mother was significantly associated with the source of information.

·         The level of practice on infant feeding practices of working mother was statistically associated with age of the mother and sex of the child. The level of practice on infant feeding practices of non-working mother was statistically associated with age of the mother.

 

CONCLUSION:

Infant and young child feeding is a key area to improve child survival and promote healthy growth and development. The first 2 years of a child’s life are particularly important, as optimal nutrition during this period lowers morbidity and mortality, reduces the risk of chronic disease, and fosters better development overall. Optimal breastfeeding is so critical that it could save the lives of over 820 000 children under the age of 5 years each year. The result of this study clearly shows that on comparison with working mother, non-working mothers have better level of knowledge and practice on infant feeding practices. 

 

REFERENCE:

1.        Satish T, Ketan B, Balraj Y, Sushma M, Prashant G, Banapurmath, Zeeba Z, Urmila D, Visheshkumar And Agrawal. Infant and Young Child Feeding Guidelines. Indian Pediatics. 2016;53:703 – 713.

2.        National guidelines on Infant and young child feeding. Government of India.2004.

3.        Improving breastfeeding, complementary foods and feeding practices. Available at: http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_breastfeeding. Accessed on 1May 2018.

4.        Ramesh kumar raja. Article on breast feeding practice. At its low in India. Available at: https://www.bpni.org/Article/Breastfeeding-practice-at-its-low-in-India.pdf

5.        Vinay Kumar, Gunjan Arora. Infant and Young Child Feeding Behaviors among Working Mothers in India: Implications for Global Health Policy and Practice. International Journal of MCH and AIDS (2015), Volume 3, Issue 1, Pages 7-15.

 

 

 

Received on 23.11.2018         Modified on 29.12.2018

Accepted on 29.01.2019      ©A&V Publications All right reserved