ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the infant feeding practices of mothers residing in Barangay Annafunan East, Tuguegarao City, focusing on exclusive breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, and the introduction of complementary foods. A descriptive, cross-sectional design was employed, with 110 mothers purposively selected based on eligibility criteria, including a minimum residency of six months. Data were collected using a modified questionnaire adapted from Jansen et al. (2014), which demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = 0.93). Descriptive and inferential statistics revealed that overall feeding practices were moderate (M = 2.67, Frequent), indicating that recommended guidelines were followed regularly, though not consistently. Significant differences in feeding practices were observed based on maternal age, employment status, and the availability of multimedia resources in the household. In contrast, educational attainment and household income did not have statistically significant effects (p < 0.05). These findings highlight the importance of sustained health education initiatives and the strategic use of multimedia-based information to promote safe and effective infant feeding practices, aligning with previous research findings.
Keywords: Breast-Feeding, Feeding practices, Health education programs
INTRODUCTION
Healthy infant and early childhood feeding practices are very essential in supporting healthy growth, development and subsequent long-term survival in childhood (Berti and Socha, 2023). The initial 24 months is a period of the decisive interval during which appropriate nutrition can reduce the morbidity, mortality, and the onset of the chronic illness later in life (Christian, Afful-Dadzie and Marquis, 2023). Although the world is advised to initiate breastfeeding early on, breastfeed period of six months and introduction of complementary foods at the appropriate time and continue with breastfeeding to two years (WHO, 2023), the adherence rates of same all over the world are disturbingly low, with the infant under six months receiving sufficient breastmilk at just about 44% (WHO, 2023). Poor feeding habits have been identified as causes of anemia and stunting, especially in sub -Saharan Africa (Christian et al., 2023), and research reveals that most mothers use their partial knowledge or informal information sources to make feeding decisions (Weber et al., 2023). Developing a more detailed insight into the feeding activities of mothers in Barangay Annafunan East, Tuguegarao City will help the local health authorities and planners to develop specific interventions to improve the child nutrition and survival rates.
METHODOLOGY
To ensure methodological rigor, the study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design to investigate the feeding practices of mothers with children aged 0 to 5 years in Barangay Annafunan East, Tuguegarao City. A total of 110 mothers were purposively selected based on eligibility criteria, including a minimum residency of six months and availability during data collection. Data were gathered using a modified questionnaire adapted from the work of Jansen et al. (2014), which demonstrated excellent reliability (α = 0.93). House-to-house surveys were conducted following appropriate local authority approvals. IBM SPSS Version 23 was used to perform descriptive statistics and inferential analyses (t-test, ANOVA, and Chi-square) to examine differences across demographic variables. The study was conducted with strict adherence to ethical principles.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The findings revealed that the mothers in Barangay Annafunan East had moderate level of infant and young child feeding practices (overall mean = 2.67, Frequent). Complementary feeding was the most regularly noted dimension (3.24), especially regarding the involvement of children at the meals, and promoting self-feeding. The rate of the practice of breastfeeding was also considered as high (2.70) though some unsafe practices, including the avoidance of breastfeeding in case of minor illness, were still present. Practices of bottle-feeding were minimum (2.07) and failure to sterilize and handle milk were reported. There was a significant difference (p <0.05) on age, employment status and access to multimedia on feeding habits but no significance on educational attainment and household income, which should underline the importance of awareness and exposure to information.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
In accordance with the data presented in the study, a number of recommendations are offered to promote the infant and young child feeding practice. First, it is desirable that programs address the goal that the mothers maximize their understanding of the appropriate feeding behaviors in the diverse communities and hence the overall effects on infant health. Second, nutritional interventions need to focus more on additional preparation and consumption of the correct, high-nutrient food. Lastly, the collaboration with inter-sectoral agencies should be suggested to develop and implement culturally aware programs contributing to safe food handling practices implementation; these initiatives could help to reduce resistance to change and strengthen the efficacy of community-based projects.
REFERENCES
Berti, C. & Socha, P. (2023). Infant and young child feeding practices and health. Nutrients, 15(5), 1184. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15051184
Christian, A.K., Afful-Dadzie, E. & Marquis, G.S. (2023). Infant and young child feeding practices are associated with childhood anaemia and stunting in sub-Saharan Africa. BMC Nutrition, 9, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-022-00667-9
Weber, M.B., Palmer, W., Griffin, M. et al. (2023). Infant and young child feeding practices and the factors that influence them: a qualitative study. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 42, 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-023-00371-9
World Health Organization. (2023). Infant and young child feeding. Fact sheet. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/infant-and-young-child-feeding
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.17636321
