Urban Mothers Research Articles

Personal ultraviolet Radiation exposure in a cohort of Chinese mother and child pairs: the Chinese families and children study

BackgroundFew studies in China have examined personal ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure using polysulfone dosimetry.MethodsIn this study, 93 mother and adolescent child pairs (N = 186) from two locations in China, one rural (higher latitude) and one urban (lower latitude), completed 3 days of personal UVR dosimetry and a sun/clothing diary, as part of a larger pilot study.ResultsThe average daily ambient UVR in each location as measured by dosimetry was 20.24 Minimal Erythemal Doses (MED) in the rural location and 20.53 MED in the urban location. Rural mothers had more average daily time outdoors than urban mothers (5.5 h, compared with 1.5 h, in urban mothers) and a much higher daily average personal UVR exposure (4.50 MED, compared with 0.78 MED in urban mothers). Amongst adolescents, rural males had the highest average daily personal UVR exposure, followed by rural females, urban females and urban males (average 2.16, 1.05, 0.81, and 0.48 MED, respectively).ConclusionsAlthough based on small numbers, our findings show the importance of geographic location, age, work/school responsibilities, and sex of the adolescents in determining personal UVR exposure in China. These results suggest that latitude of residence may not be a good proxy for personal UVR exposure in all circumstances.

Factors affecting feeding 6-23 months age children according to minimum acceptable diet in Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis of the Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey.

BackgroundThough infant and young children should be fed according to a minimum acceptable diet to ensure appropriate growth and development, only 7% of Ethiopian 6–23 months age children meet the minimum acceptable dietary standards, which is lower than the national target of 11% set for 2016. Therefore, this study aims to assess the individual and community level factors affecting feeding according to minimum acceptable diet among 6–23 months age children in Ethiopia.MethodsThis study analyzed retrospectively a cross-sectional data on a weighted sample of 2919 children aged 6–23 months nested within 617 clusters after extracting from Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey 2016 via the link www.measuredhs.com. By employing bi-variate multilevel logistic regression model, variables which were significant at the p-value < 0.25 were included in multivariable multilevel logistic regression analysis. Finally, variables with a p-value < 0.05 were considered as significant predictors of minimum acceptable diet.ResultsOnly 6.1% of 6–23 months age children feed minimum acceptable diet in Ethiopia. Children 18–23 months age (AOR = 3.7, 95%CI 1.9, 7.2), father’s with secondary or higher education (AOR = 2.1, 95%CI 1.2, 3.6), Employed mothers (AOR = 1.7, 95%CI 1.2, 2.5), mothers have access to drinking water (AOR = 1.9, 95%CI 1.2, 2.9), mothers with media exposure (AOR = 2.1 95%CI 1.1, 2.7) were positive individual level predictors. Urban mothers (AOR = 4.8, 95%CI 1.7, 13.2)) and agrarian dominant region (AOR = 5.6, 95%CI 2.2, 14.5) were community level factors that significantly associated with a minimum acceptable diet of 6–23 months age children.ConclusionBoth individual and community level factors were significantly associated with a minimum acceptable diet of 6–23 months age children in Ethiopia, suggesting that nutritional interventions designed to improve child health should not only be implemented at the individual level but tailored to community context as well.

Balinese Mothers Developmental Timetables For Young Children

Cultures differ from one another in the types of competence that adults encourage in children, the age at which they expect a given skill to be acquired, and the level of proficiency they want children to achieve. The concept of developmental timetables refers to the ages at which parents expect skills to appear in children. The purpose of the study was to investigate the developmental timetables of rural and urban mothers in Bali, Indonesia, and the extent to which mother’s teach children various skills before Kindergarten age. The total sample was 200, 100 rural mothers and 100 urban mothers in the regency of Badung. Mothers responded to a structured questionnaire which was read to them aloud by trained interviewers who then recorded the responses. All the mothers had children between 4-6 years old; equal numbers of male and female children were included, and the entire economic and educational ranges were represented. Results showed that urban and rural mothers differed in their age expectations of children's development. Rural mothers reported wider age ranges as well as older mean ages of skill acquisition by children compared to urban mothers. Furthermore, specific caregiving activities, were performed earlier by urban mothers compared to rural mothers. However, reading the first book to the child was both quite late for urban and rural mothers. The implications of the findings to child development were discussed.

The role of parenting stress in mediating the relationship between neighborhood social cohesion and depression and anxiety among mothers of young children in fragile families.

This study was designed to examine the roles of neighborhood social cohesion and parenting stress in influencing maternal mental health outcomes among primarily low-income, unmarried, urban mothers. Structural equation modeling was conducted using cross-sectional Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study data (N=3,876), to test the hypotheses that neighborhood social cohesion would be associated with depression and anxiety among mothers with children aged 3 years and that this relationship would be mediated by parenting stress. The mediation model demonstrated good fit, χ2 (796)=3169.07, p<.001; comparative fit index=0.96; root mean square error of approximation=0.028 [90% confidence interval [0.027, 0.029]. Parenting stress partially mediated the effect of social cohesion on maternal depression (indirect effect: -0.04, p<0.001) and anxiety (indirect effect: -0.05, p<0.001); higher reported neighborhood social cohesion was associated with lower parenting stress, which was associated with a decreased likelihood of maternal anxiety and depression. Efforts to bolster neighborhood social cohesion may improve maternal mental health outcomes by reducing parenting stress.

A Comparative Study to Assess the Knowledge on Child Abuse among Mothers Residing in Urban and Rural Community

Child abuse is a serious physical and psycho-social problem which adversely affect the health and overall development of a child. It is very pathetic that many parents sometimes unknowingly abuse their child. Parents do not differentiate between the methods of disciplining the child and the form of abuse and neglect. The objective of the present study is to assess and compare the knowledge on child abuse among mothers residing in selected urban and rural community. Quantitative approach and descriptive research design was adopted for this comparative study. The study was conducted among hundred mothers who are having children below 12 years and who fulfill the inclusion criteria. The tool consisted of two parts. Section A included Demographic Variables such as Age, Religion, Education, Occupation, Monthly Income, and Type of family. Section B included Structured questionnaire to assess the knowledge on child abuse among mothers residing in selected urban and rural community. The results of the study revealed that Mean value of knowledge on child abuse among rural mothers was 12.44 and urban mothers was 11.98. When both the groups where compared it showed that t value-0.53 was statistically significant at P<0.001.. There was no significant association between the knowledge on child abuse among mothers residing in urban and rural community with their demographic variables. The study concluded that knowledge on child abuse was better among mothers residing in rural community than the urban mothers

Exclusive Breast Feeding Prevalence and Associated Factors an Institutional Based Cross Sectional Study in Bahir dar Northwest Ethiopia

Exclusive breastfeeding is accepted as the best natural form of infant feeding up to six months and has a protective effect against morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of exclusively breastfeeding and associated factors during the first six months among mothers who was attending in Bahir Dar public health centers and private pediatric clinics. An institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted on mothers with infants six-twelve months of age. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to determine the final sample size of 634 participants. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select the eligible mothers. The result show that, The overall rates of exclusively breast feeding were 46.7%. Mothers who are currently in union [(AOR=0.176 (0.058, 0.536)], urban residence mothers [(AOR=0.375 (0.211, 0.664)], not sick infants [(AOR=4.441 (2.404, 8.094)], adequate knowledgeable mothers [(AOR=3.570 (2.367, 5.383)] and favorable attitude mothers [(AOR=2.537 (1.729, 3.724)] were significant association towards exclusively breast feeding. Exclusively breast feeding was significantly low in Bahir Dar city administration health care facility attendant mothers.. Therefore health education should be focused on urban societies, mothers with sick infants, to raise their knowledge and change attitude of mothers towards the many benefit of exclusive breast feeding both in public and private health care facilities so as to increase the prevalence of exclusive breast feeding.

Mothering at a distance and disclosure of maternal HIV to children in Kingston, Jamaica

AbstractExisting guidelines (WHO, 2011) advise caretakers and professionals to disclose children’s and their caretakers’ HIV status to children, despite a lack of evidence concerning the potential implications in resource-constrained settings. Our research uses feminist Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore the experiences of HIV positive mothers in Kingston, Jamaica, focusing on their lived experiences of talking to their children about maternal HIV. This paper will focus on the concept of mothering at a distance and how this presents additional challenges for HIV positive mothers who are trying to establish emotional closeness in relation to talking to their children about their HIV. Using Hochschild’s concept of emotion work and examples from the interviews, we highlight the difficult contexts informing women’s decisions when negotiating discussions about their HIV. Women may choose full, partial or differential disclosure or children may be told their mother’s HIV status by others. Disclosure policy, we argue, reflects Anglo-Northern constructions of the family and parenting which may not adequately reflect the experiences of poor urban mothers in low and middle income countries. We argue that policy needs to recognise culturally-specific family formations, which, in Jamaica includes absent fathers, mothering at a distance and mothering non-biological children. This article reflects on the experiences of an under-researched group, poor urban Jamaican women practising mothering at a distance, using a novel methodological approach (IPA) to bring into relief unique insights into their lived experiences and will contribute to the global policy and research literature on HIV disclosure.

Adequate knowledge transformed to practice in relation to iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy: experience from West Bengal

Background: High prevalence of anaemia among pregnant mothers in rural and urban West Bengal warrants a deeper observation. The current article thus, aims to explore the knowledge and practices towards iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) among the rural and urban antenatal mothers.Methods: An observational descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among Fifty-four rural and seventy-one urban ante-natal mothers. A semi-structured interview schedule, Maternal and Child Protection Card (MCPC) and Laboratory evaluation reports were used.Results: Majority respondents were aged below 20 years and housewives. Around 59.25% rural and 66.19% urban mothers knew the meaning of ‘Anaemia’. Rural mothers consider pregnancy (54.55%) as the most common cause of iron deficiency anaemia, whereas, urban mothers think of dietary deficiency of iron rich foods (60.56%). Dietary knowledge was adequate, with 57.40% urban and 53.52% rural mothers consuming an extra home-cooked meal. Overall more than 90% mothers consumed green leafy vegetables. Majority mothers knew iron and folic acid (IFA) tablets should be consumed for at least 3 months (100 days) during pregnancy and should be continued after delivery. But 12.96% and 16.90% rural and urban mothers respectively did not take any tablet of IFA. Overall practice and knowledge were statistically associated in rural and urban settings with proper practice exceeding adequate knowledge in pooled estimate.Conclusions: The differences between urban and rural area in this study were marginal. But in some cases like IFA tablet consumption, Blood tests etc. there was a gap between knowledge and practice, which may actually indicate a lack of motivation.

Socio-economic status and feeding practices among the mothers of under-five children in an urban slum of Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

Poor socio-economic conditions and inappropriate feeding practices in slum dwelling mothers can have adverse consequences for the health and nutritional status of their under-five children. The present study was to assess the feeding practices and socio-economic status mothers of under-five children. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2015 to December 2015 in four urban slums of Bangladesh. Two hundred and fifty five mother-child pairs were selected by non-random convenience sampling and were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were taken from under-five children aged 6-59 months. In the present study, boys (54.0%) were predominant over girls (46.0%). The prevalence of initiation of breastfeeding after delivery, prelacteal feeds, exclusive breastfeeding and bottle-feeding were 34.5%, 43.5%, 39.6% and 30.6%, respectively. Out of 255 children studied, more than half (57.6%) of the children received complementary feeds at the appropriate time whereas 45.9% children received with appropriate consistency. Meal frequency was 40.4% and minimum dietary diversity was given to only 39.6% of the children. Minimum dietary diversity means feeding the child food from at least four food groups. Feeding practices improve as mother‟s education levels and household income status increases while maximum slum dwelling mothers are illiterate and primary level completed and household income status are not static. Data showed that overall 14.0% of under-five children were suffering from malnutrition. In terms of severity, 11.3% were moderately malnourished-MAM and 2.7% were severely malnourished-SAM. Various inappropriate feeding practices are more prevalent among urban slum mothers. From this study, it was evident that mothers of low socio-economic group have poor knowledge regarding the feeding practices of their under-five children. There is an urgent need to bridge the “knowledge gap” and “practice gap” of mother‟s from urban slum and lower socio economic strata of the community by further strengthening the on-going breastfeeding programme, breastfeeding knowledge and practice of mothers in urban slum areas.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. September 2018, 4(3): 307-314

Mothers\u2019 Facebook posts about infant health: findings from the Grow2Gether study

BackgroundSocial media is a common way for mothers to seek advice about their infants. However, little is known about how low-income urban mothers use social media to obtain infant health information and whether this information is consistent with expert pediatric recommendations.Objectives(1) identify the types of health questions asked by low-income mothers of infants in a social media parenting group; (2) describe whether peer answers are consistent with or contradict AAP guidelines; (3) identify the practices that mothers post about that are inconsistent with AAP guidelines.MethodsForty-three low-income mothers were enrolled in Grow2Gether, a private Facebook group intervention focused on infant care and moderated by a psychologist. All health questions posted by mothers were coded thematically; answers to questions from the group were assessed for consistency with American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines related to infant feeding, sleep, screen time, and safety. Additionally, all unique posts that contained practices inconsistent with these AAP guidelines were thematically coded.ResultsIn total, 215 posts were coded. Participants posted 61 questions related to infant health, most commonly solid food introduction (8/61), teething (8/61), and breastfeeding (7/61). Of the 77 answers given by peers, 6 contradicted guidelines. Separately, mothers had 73 posts demonstrating practices inconsistent with AAP guidelines [safe sleep (43/73) and screen time (21/73)].ConclusionsMothers’ Facebook group interactions in the context of an infant care intervention revealed that when mothers posed direct questions regarding infant health, their peers generally gave answers that did not contradict AAP guidelines. In contrast, mothers’ posts simply describing sleep and screen time practices commonly contradicted guidelines.

Exposure to heavy metals released to the environment through breastfeeding: A probabilistic risk estimation

Toxic heavy metals released into the environment through various anthropogenic activities, raising concerns over their potential adverse effects on human health and the environment. Biological monitoring studies are of great value in toxicological research for estimation of such health effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of lead (Pb), arsenic (As), and chromium (Cr) in the breast milk of urban mothers in Hamadan city, Iran and the accompanying health risk to infants. A total of 100 lactating mothers were recruited from public health care centers in Hamadan city and breast milk samples were collected at 2, 6, 8, and 12 months postpartum. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) has been used to measure target heavy metal concentrations. The median breast milk concentrations of Pb, As, and Cr were 41.90, 0.50, and 3.95 μg/L, respectively. The highest levels of Pb were observed after two months of delivery (with the mean of 96.69 μg/L and median of 45.70 μg/L). Up to 94% of the breast milk samples exceeded the WHO limit suggested for lead contamination of breast milk (<5 μg/L). The breast milk As and Cr contents were above the limit of detection (LOD) in 19% and 76% of samples, respectively. Unacceptable non-cancer health risk levels or hazard quotient (HQ) were found for Pb and As in 61% and 10% of the samples, respectively. Nevertheless, HQ from Cr was <1.0 for 100% of breastfeeding infants. Finally, our results indicated that there may be a potential risk of toxic metals, especially lead, for infants in Hamadan via the consumption of mothers' breast milk.

Exposure to violence, neighborhood context, and health-related outcomes in low-income urban mothers

Exposure to violence in youths has been associated with negative health outcomes, yet evidence of such in adults is limited. Additionally, it is unknown whether these negative associations persist over time and whether neighborhood characteristics affect such associations. Using longitudinal data from a sample of 2481 mostly low-income urban mothers, logistic regressions indicate that exposure to violence is associated with several poorer health outcomes after accounting for neighborhood and social factors. Also, these poorer health outcomes persisted for two years after violence exposure. This analysis underscores the need to invest in efforts to prevent and reduce exposure to violence.

English

English

What Influences Urban Mothers' Decisions on What to Feed Their Children Aged Under Five-The Case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Mothers carry the prime responsibility for childcare and feeding in low-income countries. Understanding their experiences in providing food for their children is paramount to informing efforts to improve the nutritional status of children. Such information is lacking in Sub-Saharan Africa. To understand what influences urban mothers’ food acquisition and their motivations for selecting food for their children, 36 in-depth interviews were carried out with mothers having children under five years of age. Interviews were conducted in the local language, audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis which led to the identification of four major themes: mothers give-in to a child-driven diet; quick-fix versus the privilege of planning; keen awareness on food safety, nutrition, and diet diversity; and social, familial, and cultural influences. The findings indicate that child feeding practices are influenced by interlinked social and environmental factors. Hence, nutrition education campaigns should focus on targeting not only families but also their children. Attention should also be given to food safety regulations, as well as to the much-needed support of mothers who are struggling to ensure their children’s survival in low-income countries.

Son Preference among the Educated Urban Middle-class in North India

The prevalence of son preference among different socio-cultural and religious communities in India is an expression of patriarchal culture and values which highlights men’s social dominance and women’s subordinate position within this society. This qualitative study sheds light on how urban middle-class married mothers in the states of Delhi and Haryana, India, view and practice son preference. I conducted semi-structured interviews with 45 urban married, educated middle-class mothers who were recruited through the technique of snowballing. This research finds son preference to be deemed natural and acceptable by the urban middle-class women interviewed during the course of this study because of the various socio-cultural advantages associated with having a son. Old-age support, enhanced social status, women’s social dependency on men are some of the various socio-cultural benefits that participants attributed to the popularity of son preference. However, despite the prevalence of son preference, daughter aversion was not evident among the participants; they provided the same love, care, and education career opportunities to their daughters as they did to their sons. The research concludes that daughters’ social status is gradually improving as social attitudes among the urban middle-class are changing. This article suggests that women’s acceptance of son preference signifies that they have internalised their own gender subordination to the extent that they consider men to be socio-culturally and biologically superior to them. In order to examine this acceptance of gender subordination by women, I have employed Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of symbolic violence and symbolic capital.

Concerns regarding complementary feeding practices among urban Chinese mothers: a focus group study in Xi\u2019an

BackgroundComplementary feeding (CF) is an important determinant of infant growth and development. However, CF practices are influenced by caregivers’ perceptions and knowledge. This study aimed to describe perceptions and factors that potentially influence CF practices among Chinese mothers living in Xi’an, a rapidly developing city in China.MethodsThis focus group study included three discussion groups. Topics related to practices and concerns regarding CF were discussed among women with at least one child aged 4–36 months. A brief questionnaire was used to collect demographic information for mothers and their children.ResultsAmong study participants, the timing of starting CF for their children varied from age 4 to 8 months. Grain was ranked as the top food for CF, and homemade food was preferred to commercial CF products. Food additives and preservatives were the priority concerns when purchasing commercial baby food, particularly regarding uncertainty about their safety. In terms of nutrition, deficiencies in minerals and vitamins were of major concern. The issue of bio-availability of added nutrients in baby food was also raised during the discussions. Participants showed a strong reliance on information obtained from the Internet via computers or smartphones as their main source of CF knowledge, but felt this information lacked expertise.ConclusionsParticipating mothers from Xi’an prefer homemade food for CF to commercial products. More scientific knowledge of CF and related food safety issues should be available, perhaps via Internet-based approaches.

Investigation of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in pregnancy and among HIV-exposed infants accessing care at a PMTCT clinic in southwest Nigeria

ABSTRACTBackground: Over 90% of infant acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases have been through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Consequent to this, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs have instituted as dual purposes for prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child and enrollment of infected pregnant women and their families into antiretroviral treatment (ART) program. However, there are still some breakthrough infections and challenges. Therefore, this study was designed to assess risk of HIV transmission among HIV-exposed infants on follow-up at a PMTCT clinic in an antiretroviral (ARV) referral health facility in southwest Nigeria.Methods: A cohort of 60 purposively recruited consenting pregnant women referred to PMTCT HIV clinic in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria were enrolled and followed up for 1 year (2015–2016). A well-structured epidemiological questionnaire was used to capture all relevant information. Data were then analyzed by SPSS version 21 (St. Louis, MO, USA), while bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify associations.Results: A total of 44 mothers and their infants were available for the analysis with an attrition rate of 26.7%. The mean age of mothers at enrollment to follow-up was 32.9 years (SD = 4.2 years). Two (4.5%, 95% CI: 7.2–12.3%) of the infants were HIV positive by DNA PCR test. There was no linear relationship between age of the mothers with CD4 count or viral load both before and after delivery but there was a significant positive relationship with year on ARV (r = 0.318, 95% CI: 0.024–0.562). Infants of rural dwelling mothers were at 3.39 (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.39, 95% CI: 1.32, 2.29) times higher risk of vertical HIV transmission compared to those of urban dwelling mothers. Infants delivered at home had 2.61(AOR = 2.61, 95% CI: 1.59, 7.91) times higher risk of MTCT compared to those delivered at health institution. Mixed feeding was also another important predictor in which the risk of MTCT was about two (AOR = 2.21, 95% CI: 0.68, 9.97) times higher compared to exclusive breastfeeding.Conclusions: There was a high risk of MTCT of HIV among exposed infants on follow-up at the PMTCT clinic of Adeoyo Maternity Teaching referral hospital. Our findings will assist health policy makers in providing important information capable of enhancing assurance HIV control in such population and in raising the standard of PMTCT program in Nigeria.

Perceived Parental Remote Acculturation Gaps Among Divorced Coparents and Children’s Adjustment in Turkey

The possibility of differential remote acculturation to a distant culture is yet another chasm that divorced coparents must bridge as they raise their children in globalizing urban settings. This study explored the association between parental remote acculturation and perceived parental remote acculturation gaps in two acculturation domains (behavior, identity), in relation to children’s adjustment in Turkish divorced families. Altogether, 177 urban divorced mothers in Turkey reported their own and their ex-partners’ remote acculturation to U.S. and Turkish cultures, and their joint children’s internalizing (social withdrawal, anxiety) and externalizing (aggression) behaviors. Perceived remote acculturation gaps were operationalized with match:mismatch and interaction methods. Sequential regression analyses accounting for parental conflict resolution revealed that mothers’ perceptions of fathers’ American identity was positively associated with children’s social withdrawal. Regarding perceived acculturation gaps, one particular cross-dimension pairing—strongly U.S.-identified “AmeriTurk” mothers paired with strongly Turkish-identified fathers—predicted lower internalizing problems. Although having an Americanized father might confer some risk for children in divorced families in Turkey, having an “AmeriTurk” mother and traditional Turkish father may be protective, suggesting the benefit of integration as a family-level remote acculturation strategy. Taken together, parental remote acculturation and perceived remote acculturation gaps in identity (not behavior) predicted the socioemotional (not behavioral) adjustment of children above and beyond parental discord. Findings highlight the family repercussions of remote acculturation in Eurasia, underscore the importance of multidomain acculturation measurement, confirm the superior sensitivity of the interaction method, and extend its application to assessing cross-dimension pairings as a new type of acculturation gap.

Predictors of postpartum weight retention among urban Malaysian mothers: A prospective cohort study

BackgroundWomen of childbearing age are predisposed to becoming overweight or obese. This study determines the mean, prevalence and factors associated with 6 months postpartum weight retention among urban Malaysian mothers. MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted at baseline (after delivery), 2, 4 and 6 months postpartum. From 638 eligible mothers initially recruited, 420 completed until 6 months. Dependent variable was weight retention, defined as difference between weight at 6 months postpartum and pre-pregnancy weight, and weight retention ≥5kg was considered excessive. Independent variables included socio-demographic, history of pregnancy and delivery, lifestyle, practices and traditional postpartum practices. ResultsAverage age was 29.61±4.71years, majority (83.3%) were Malays, 58.8% (low education), 70.0% (employed), 65.2% (middle income family), 33.8% (primiparous) and 66.7% (normal/instrumental delivery). Average gestational weight gain was 12.90±5.18kg. Mean postpartum weight retention was 3.12±4.76kg, 33.8% retaining ≥5kg. Bivariable analysis showed low income, primiparity, gestational weight gain ≥12kg, less active physically, higher energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat intake in diet, never using hot stone compression and not continuing breastfeeding were significantly associated with higher 6 months postpartum weight retention. From multivariable linear regression analysis, less active physically, higher energy intake in diet, gestational weight gain ≥12kg, not continuing breastfeeding 6 months postpartum and never using hot stone compression could explain 55.1% variation in 6 months postpartum weight retention. ConclusionWomen need to control gestational weight gain, remain physically active, reduce energy intake, breastfeed for at least 6 months and use hot stone compression to prevent high postpartum weight retention.

Knowledge, Beliefs and Practices Associated with Teething Among Mothers in Mangalore Taluk, South India

Background: To assess mother’s knowledge and beliefs about teething signs and symptoms, to evaluate their experience during the teething of their youngest child and to assess the practices undertaken by mothers to relieve the teething symptoms. Methods: Random number of anganvadis, 5 from the rural and 5 from the urban areas of Mangalore were selected. A cross sectional survey was conducted using a self administered questionnaire. The questionnaire form included three sections eliciting demographic characteristics and assessing parent's knowledge, and beliefs regarding teething of their youngest child. Result: The majority of the respondents were in the age group of 28 – 37 years of age and had only primary level of education . Almost about 93% of the mothers knew that the tooth eruption starts around 6 – 7 months of age and the first tooth to erupt is the lower central incisors. About 85 % of the mothers said that the primary tooth eruption gets completed by 2 years of age. Almost 90 % parents attributed fever and diarrhea to teething. Almost 55 % of the parents consulted a doctor for fever and diarrhea. There is no statistically significant difference between the rural and urban mothers about teething knowledge and its associated symptoms. Conclusion: This study identified mother’s conceptions about teething signs and symptoms. Health care providers must review and dispel long held cultural myths and beliefs about teething, acknowledge and share the evidence that tooth eruption is not strongly associated with significant symptoms.