Knowledge, attitudes and practices of mothers regarding breastfeeding and complementary feeding

2024-07-22T15:53:23+00:00

Mother’s appropriate, adequate feeding practices by mothers are important determinants in ensuring optimal health and well-being during infancy and early childhood. However, some mothers who visit public health clinics have minimal knowledge of breast- and complementary feeding.

This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of mothers regarding breastfeeding and weaning.

A purposefully selected sample of 200 mothers with children below two years of age in the Colesberg district, Northern Cape, participated. After consent, a questionnaire on infant and early childhood feeding was completed with the assistance of a fieldworker. Anthropometrical measurements were conducted on the children, followed by a 24-hour dietary recall, were done. The nutritional status of the children was analysed utilising the WHO Anthro Survey Analyser Tool. Microsoft Excel and IBM Social Sciences Statistics Data Editor Version 24 were used for analysis. Together with literature on infant and early childhood feeding, this data was utilised to compile an intervention key ring.

The findings indicated that mothers have good knowledge regarding infant feeding; however, their incorrect feeding practices do not reflect this. Significant associations between mothers’ practices and the nutritional status of their children were found. Qualitative research, such as focus groups, is necessary to investigate the possible challenges and explain why mothers are not practising their knowledge obtained regarding infant feeding.

Discovering the benefits of soybean: an informative half-day nutrition experience among low income women in Vaal region of South Africa

2024-07-31T09:23:58+00:00

In developing countries, women generate about 80% of food production and are in charge of cooking meals for their family. Despite their productivity and contribution in food production, they make up about 70% of the world’s impoverished population. In sub-Saharan Africa, women are more likely to face the triple burden of malnutrition when compared to males, and in South Africa, 42% of households were led by women in 2022. Soy is known for having the most complete nutritional characteristics among legumes capable of addressing the nutritional effects of malnutrition. Theory-based nutrition education is of extreme importance in areas where resources and healthcare personnel are scarce, as it empowers and provides people with knowledge, abilities, and motivation to adopt a healthier diet. When combined with a varied diet, soy consumption has advantages in addressing the adverse effects of malnutrition. Thus, the objective of this study was to inform women in the Vaal region of South Africa about the health benefits of soy and how to prepare soy-based foods. To this end, a registered dietitian implemented a nutrition education intervention with selected participants, and a validated questionnaire was used before and after the intervention to collect participants’ data. Pretest and posttest data were analysed along with sociodemographic information. Over 50% of the women were unemployed, and when asked about their frequency of soy consumption, more than 65% reported never eating soy. Most of the participants (95%) met the minimum dietary diversity score. There was no statistically significant change in the overall perception, knowledge, or self-efficacy total scores after the intervention. However, statistically significant (p = < 0.001) correlations were found between pre total knowledge score and the dietary diversity score, pre knowledge and knowledge about foods containing soy, and knowledge and use of soy for human consumption (ρ = .441, ρ =.614, and ρ = 0.615, respectively). The only statistical significance (p < 0.001) when knowledge questions were analysed separately was found for the change score related to knowledge of the health benefits of soy. Surprisingly, despite these correlations, when asked if they use soy-based foods in their house, 63.3% of participants said they do not use them. This may be explained by the fact that 41.7% reported feeling neutral about (neither disliking or liking) or disliking (21.7%) the taste of soy.

Journal of Consumer Sciences

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of mothers regarding breastfeeding and complementary feeding

Discovering the benefits of soybean: an informative half-day nutrition experience among low income women in Vaal region of South Africa