Abstract
In Nigeria, Childhood Nutrition And Feeding Are Controlled And Influenced By A Lot Of Socio-Cultural Factors. The Timing Of Initiation Of Complementary Feeds Is A Critical Determinant Of The Nutritional Status Of Children Under Five Years Of Age. This Study, Therefore, Set Out To Ascertain The Factors Associated With The Timing Of Initiation Of Complementary Feeding Among Children Aged 4-24 Months Of Age, Attending Routine Immunization Clinics In Jos North LGA Of Plateau State, Nigeria. This Was A Descriptive, Cross-Sectional, Facility-Based Study, Using Both Quantitative And Qualitative Methods To Assess The Factors Associated With The Timing Of Initiation Of Complementary Feeding Among 210 Mothers Of Children Aged 4-12months. The FGD Showed That Mothers Relied On Past Experience And Finances To Determine The Timing Of Initiation Of Complementary Feed. Although No Socio-Demographic Variable Was Found To Be Statistically Associated With The Timing Of Commencement Of Complementary Feeding; More Women Commenced After 6months Of Age With Tertiary Education (68.3%), If The Child Was Female (70.4%) And If The Mother Was Younger Age Group (76.5%). A Larger Proportion Of The Mothers Initiated Complementary Feeding At The Time They Did, Either Because They Felt The Child Was Not Satisfied With Taking Only Breast-Milk (37.1%) Or Because They Felt It Was The Best Time To Start (36.2%). The Most Potent Influence For The Timing Of Complementary Feed Commencement Was Their Past Experience With Other Children.
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