Complementary feeding practices and nutritional status of young children in a community in Sokoto

Background: Complementary feeding is the cornerstone of child’s nutrition. Most malnourished children had their predicament originating from  the period of transition from breastfeeding to family diet. Objectives: To determine the complementary feeding practices and nutritional status of young children in Gwiwa community. Materials and  Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Gwiwa community, Wammakko LGA, Sokoto State between January and June,  2018. Three hundred and ten mothers with their children aged 6 –36 months were interviewed using structured interviewer - administered questionnaire and the children’s nutritional status was assessed using WHO classification of malnutrition. Data was analysed using SPSS version22.0.A p-value ≤0.05 was taken as significan. Results: One hundred and forty (45.2%) respondents were aged  15 – 24years and 168(54.2%) were of low socio-economic class. There were 190  males and 120 females with 66 (21.3%) children exclusively bre as t - fed for 6months. The mean age of cessation of breast feeding was 17.8 ±3.6 months. One hundred and sixty-nine (54.5%) children commenced complementary feeding at 6-8month of age with the mean age of 5.7(±2.6) months. One hundred and eighty-four (59.4%) used plain pap with 41.2% fed more than 3 times per day. Eighty-two (26.5%), 56(18.1%) and 76 (24.5%) children were underweight, wasted and stunted respectively. Conclusion: The complementary feeding practices were suboptimal in this community and might explain the poor nutritional status of their under- fives. Efforts should be geared towards optimal complementary feeding practices in this community. Key words: Complementary, Feeding, Practice, Nutritional, Status, Under-5.