Feeding Practices, Food and Nutrition Insecurity of infants and their Mothers in Bangang Rural Community, Cameroon

Inocent Gouado

doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000264

Abstract

Background: Many reports indicate the existence of high rate of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in Cameroon. Children, pregnant and lactating mothers are the most affected groups. Objective: This study was designed to assess breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices that influence nutritional status of young children and their mothers in Bangang rural community in the West Region of Cameroon. Methods: The study was descriptive and exploratory. A questionnaire previously developed was submitted to the 244 mothers or caregivers with 270 young children aged 0 to 24 months, during nutritional survey in Bangang rural community to understand breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. Anthropometrics measures were recorded and statistical analyses where done using SPSS version 17. Results: The prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting of children was 42.22%, 6.67% and 3.33% respectively. BMI classification of mothers was done according to WHO criteria, 3.28% of mothers were underweight, and 29.09% were overweight and 9.84% obese. Low breastfeeding rate 69.58% (P<0.05) was observed. The frequency of exclusive breastfeeding was 60.08%. However, 50.39% had introduced complementary foods before six months. The most frequent complementary foods were cereals, tubers, but minerals and vitamins intake were low. Conclusion: Breastfeeding was still practiced by many of the mothers but exclusive breastfeeding was scarce. Nutritional problems observed were due to poor knowledge on feeding practices and low education and socio economic level of mothers. There is a great need of developing educational program based on locally available foods

Highlights

Nutrition plays an important role in the health and development of individuals [1]
It appeared from the survey that 46.72% of mothers were aged 20 to 30 years, 34.42% aged 30 to 40 years, 10.65% aged 40 to 50 years and 6.56% of them were aged less than 20 years
The findings indicated a crucial problem of inappropriate complementary feeding which was not optimal, and was either too early or too late as indicated previously

Summary

Introduction

Adequate nutrition during the first two years of life is very important to ensure optimal, physical and mental development [2] At this age, children are vulnerable to growth retardation, micronutrient deficiencies, and common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections [3,4]. Good nutrition protects young children and mothers, strengthens the immune system and reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases related to foods during the lifecycle. Breastfeeding has a unique biological and emotional influence on the health of both the mother and the young child [6] It is an important determinant of infant health in the prevention of malnutrition and infections. Pregnant and lactating mothers are the most affected groups

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion