Abstract
Malnutrition affects many infants in Chad, impairing their general health. Infant feeding practices therefore require special monitoring. This study aimed to assess feeding practices and their influence on the nutritional status of infants aged 6 to 23 months in the Guera province in Tchad. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire. Participants were selected using random sampling, and statistical data were processed using SPSS and XLstat 2016 software. Results showed that 86.5% of the children received mixed breastfeeding and colostrum, respectively, at birth. Exclusive breastfeeding was low, at 12.5%. Meal frequency was low overall, with only 3% of children receiving three meals a day. Evaluation of the impact of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices showed that bottle-fed infants were generally in a poor nutritional state, with 50% severely malnourished and 50% moderately malnourished, while only 12% of exclusively breastfed children were in severely malnourished state. The high frequency of meal was also favorable to normal state, and no child receiving three meals was sick more than once in the last three months. What's more, only 44% of breastfed children and 52% of colostrum-fed children had fallen ill more than once in the previous three months. In general, malaria and diarrhea were the most frequently contracted by children. This study identified the factors that hurt the normal nutritional status of infants in this part of the Tchad.
Published Version
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