Open AccessStudy of Weaning Practices among Mothers of Children less than One year of Age in Slum area of Multan
Author(s) -
Shehla Qadir,
Muhammad Adil,
Uzma Arshad,
Samina Badar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of sheikh zayed medical college/jszmc
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2305-5235
pISSN - 2078-8274
DOI - 10.47883/jszmc.v11i03.46
Subject(s) - weaning , socioeconomic status , medicine , demography , population , malnutrition , pediatrics , environmental health , pathology , sociology , endocrinology
Background: Weaning is the key to the proper growth and development of a child. Mothers must do proper weaning practices in order to prevent malnutrition and infection in children.Objective: To determine the weaning practice among mothers with infants aged 6 months to one year of age, and causes of delayed weaning.Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among the residents of the slum area of Jahangirabad, Multan, from 31st March to 25th May 2018. A close-ended questionnaire was used for collecting data from 85 mothers using a non-probability convenient sampling technique. Frequency and percentages were calculated for qualitative variables like education, occupation, socio-economic status, the start of weaning time. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: Mothers who started weaning of their children at age of 6 months and above were 91%. Mothers who felt their milk was enough for the baby were only 37%. Mothers using marketed food for weaning were, 48 %. Illiterate mothers were, 45%. Those who were doing weaning less than 6 times per day were 98%. Families belonging to low socioeconomic status were, 61%. On applying the chi-square test there was no significant association found between the start of weaning time and mother's education (p=0.3) or occupation (p=0.3).Conclusion: A large proportion of children's population has started weaning above 6 months of age. There was no significant association found between the start of weaning time with the mother’s education and occupation.