Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices Among Caregivers in Ekiti State (A South-Western State) in Nigeria

Abstract

The knowledge of caregivers is an important factor when it comes to the maintenance of both the nutritional status of children and protection of their nutritional needs to ensure a sound foundation and secure future of any healthy society. This research thus aimed at investigating the trends in Infant and Young Child Feeding practices for children aged 0 to 23 months to evaluate how the nutrition education and counselling received during contact with health workers have contributed to the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of the caregivers regarding appropriate nutrition in Ekiti State. The assessment was done using a cross-sectional survey method, and FAO’s guideline for assessing nutrition related KAP5 was adopted and used. Cochran’s equation was used to calculate the sample size, and three households were randomly picked in each political ward. Data was collected and analysed using EPI Info 7. 94.3% of the respondents breastfeed their children on demand, and 47.2% of the mothers had skin contact with their babies after delivery. 78.2% believed that exclusive breastfeeding is very good. 68.2% believed that their children could get diarrhoea from the use of a feeding bottle. 88.3% are aware that 5-9 months are the appropriate age for the introduction of semi-solid and solid food. There is a high level of knowledge, attitude and practice among the caregivers and an improvement was observed in most of the infant and young child feeding practices in Ekiti State.