Infant-Feeding Practice and Its Association to Nutritional Status of Under-5 Children Research

Background: A proper infant-feeding practice is essential for child’s survival, growth and development. Nearly half of all deaths in under-5 children are attributable to improper nutrition, which translates into unnecessary loss of 3 million young lives a year. The prevalence of malnutrition among children in India is among the highest in the world and the most common reason for malnutrition is improper feeding practices. Objectives: (1). To find out the infant-feeding practices in an urban poor locality. (2). To find the association between infant-feeding practices and nutritional status of under-5 children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by probability proportion to population size technique in an urban poor locality. Detailed information was obtained from mothers of 1–5 year children regarding sociodemographic characteristics, infant-feeding practices, and utilization of ICDS. Anthropometric factors like weight and height were measured and plotted on WHO growth chart and mid-arm circumference was measured. Analysis was done by computing percentage for categorical data and descriptive statistics for continuous data. Results: The study included 216 children belonging to 1–5 years. Among the study subjects, 95.1% were given colostrum, 49.5% exclusively breast fed, 49.1% weaned at 6 months and 58.3% were given all food items at 1 year. 92.5% of the children were immunized till date. The study revealed that 31.1% children were underweight, 33.7% were stunted and 16.6% were wasted as per the WHO growth chart. Conclusion: Under-nutrition is still a significant health problem, which is associated with improper infantfeeding practices.