Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Parents regarding Feeding Pattern of Children

Abstract

Objective: The objective was to determine the frequency of sufficient knowledge, positive attitude and good practice of parents about feeding pattern of children with malnutrition. Study Design: It was a Cross-Sectional Study. Settings: Department of Pediatric Medicine, Children Hospital Lahore Pakistan. Duration: Six-months i.e. December 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. Methodology: Total of 385 children of both genders aged between 2-12 years who presented with malnutrition was enrolled. Demographic features of children and families were noted on a pre designed proforma. The parents were then assessed for their knowledge, attitude and practice about feeding through a structured questionnaire. A written informed consent was taken from parents of each child. Results: Of the total, 185 (48.1%) were male and 200 (51.9%) were female with mean age of 6.9±3.2 years. Mean height and weight was 113.2±19.6 cm and 25.1±10.8 Kg respectively. The number of children ranged from 1 to 5 with a mean of 2.7±1.3 children per family. Thirty six percent (n=141) were belonged to middle class, followed by lower class (35.1%) and high class (28.3%). Analysis showed that 228 (59.2%) parents had sufficient knowledge, 209 (54.3%) parents had positive attitude and only 152 (39.5%) parents followed good practice. There was no association was seen between demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitude and practice (KAPs) of parents. Conclusion: This study showed that sufficient positive attitude, knowledge and good feeding practice in more or less half of the parents with malnourished children which is alarming and warrants public health measures in this regard to address these issues which might result in reduction of child’s malnutrition along with its associated morbidity and mortality.