Infant And Young Child Complementary Feeding Practices And Associated Factors In Damot Weydie District, Welayta Zone, South Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: From the age of 6 months, an infant‘s need for energy and nutrients starts to exceed what is provided by breast milk, and complementary feeding becomes necessary to fill the energy and nutrient gap. If complementary foods are not introduced at this age or if they are given inappropriately, an infant‘s growth may falter. Only 4% of youngest children 6-23 months living with their mothers are fed in accordance with acceptable Infant and Young child feeding (IYCF) practices in Ethiopia. Objective: To assess infant and young child complementary feeding practices and associated factors in Damot Weydie district, Welayta Zone, South Ethiopia, 2014 Methods: A community-based cross sectional study design was conducted among four hundred one mothers who had children with 6-23 months of age in Damot Weydie district. Simple random sampling was used to select the required number of sample. Pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data using a face-to-face interview. Data was entered with EpiData 3.1 and analysis was done by using SPSS version 20. Frequency distribution, binary logistic regressions were done. OR with 95% confidence interval was computed to measure the strength of association. Complementary feeding practices were identified using new and updated definitions by WHO in 2010. Results: Of the four hundred four mothers/caregivers, four hundred one were included in the study making the response rate 99.2%. About 50.6% of children introduced complementary food at six months of age. Proportion of children aged 6–23 months who were with appropriate complementary feeding practice was 8.5%. Mothers with employed were 86% less likely to practice inappropriate complementary feeding than (AOR= 0.14 (0.04, 0.50) those of housewives. Mother‘s attended postnatal follow up were 81% less likely to practice inappropriate complementary feeding compared with mother‘s not attended (AOR= 0.19(0.05, 0.70). Children born preceding birth interval with less than 35 months were 2.67 times more likely to practicing inappropriate complementary feeding when compared to greater than 35 months (AOR= 2.67 (1.22, 5.83). Conclusion and recommendation: mothers fed complementary foods appropriately to their children aged 6-23 months (8.5 percent), which was very low. Mothers who are housewives and children with birth interval less than 35 months need counseling on income generating activities & birth spacing respectively. All mothers must be encouraged to make postnatal care