Maternal Infant Feeding Knowledge And Dietary Diversity Of Children’s Diet Born Of Hiv-Positive Mothers, In Narok County, Kenya

Abstract

Despite progress in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, children still acquire HIV infection (Frange et al., 2021), in 2020, the world had 31.6 million HIV positive people and sub-Sahara African countries had 83% pregnant women, 80% infants with HIV, and 78% of teenage women 15-24 years newly infected. Kenya had 1.4 million HIV positive people a prevalence rate of 4.5% and 5% in Narok County. Breastfeeding, especially early and exclusive breastfeeding, is one of the most important ways to improve infant survival (WHO, 2023c). However, the complementary feeding period, from 6 to 23 months of age, is one of the most challenging times to meet children’s nutrient demands. While children’s stomachs can only hold a small amount of food, their nutrient needs reach a lifetime peak leaving them vulnerable to growth faltering (Almasri et al., 2020). The overall objective of the study was to determine maternal infant feeding knowledge and dietary diversity of children’s diet born of HIV-positive mothers, in Narok County, Kenya The research was a cross-sectional analytical study and involved HIV+ mothers and their babies aged 0 – 23 months, purposively selected. A defined questionnaire was utilized for socio demographic indicators (e.g. age, marital status), anthropometry assessment (e.g. weight, Height) and secondary data/ hospital records. Through simple random sampling, mother baby pairs were generated by use of a computer and SPSS version 22.0 was utilized to analyse data. Socio-economic and demographic characteristics were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics