The Status Of Breast-feeding Among Mothers Of Children Aged Less Than Two Years And Implications For The Occurrence Of Acute Diarrhea Jimma Southwest Ethiopia
To assess the status of breast-feeding among mothers of children aged less than two years andrnimplications for the occurrence of acute diarrhea; a community based cross-sectional studyrnwas conducted in Jimma town, Southwest Ethiopia. A multi-stage systematic samplingrntechnique was applied. Experienced and qualified interviewers were employed and a pretestedrnquestionnaire was utilized for this purpose. A total of 412 mothers aged 15-49 withrnunder-two years children were taken, after the calculation using the formula to estimate arnsingle population proportions, to examine the status of breast-feeding and implications for thernoccurrence of acute diarrhea. It was found that out of the total study subjects, 407 (98.8%) ofrnthe children had ever breast-fed at any time after birth, and among children who have everrnbreast-fed, 339 (83.3%) have initiated breast-feeding early within 24 hours after birth.rnIt was also found that out of the children aged four and above months (n=333), 207 (62.2%)rnof them were predominantly breast-fed, and from the same age group, 23 (6.91 %) havernexclusively breast-fed for the first 4-6 months after birth. From the children who havernexclusively breast-fed, 7 (30.4%) and from those predominantly breast-fed, 92 (44.4%)rndeveloped acute diarrhea. These differences were not statistically significant. However, out ofrnthe children who have initiated breast-feeding early after birth, 132 (38.9%) developed acuterndiarrhea as compared to those who have initiated late after 24 hours. Still the differences arernnot significantly associated with the occurrence of acute diarrhea (p