Feeding Profile And Diarrhea Morbidity Among Infants Of 7-12 Months Adua Town Tigray North Ethiopia 2006

A community based cross-sectional study using a structured questionnaire was conductedrnfrom November 2005 to January 2006 in Adua town central zone of Tigray regional staternto assess infant feeding profile, determinant factors affecting breast-feeding andrnprevalence of diarrhea morbidity in infants. Six hundred and ninety six mothers havingrninfants in the age group 7-12 months were included in this study and the Mean age ofrnmothers was 25.7 years (SD±5.68). Orthodox Christians accounted for 654 (94%) and thernrest were Muslims. Three hundred and seventy nine (54.5%) were Male infants, 648rn(93%) were on breast-feeding within the first 1hr and the rest 125 (18%) were not startedrnweaning diet until the time of study. Two hundred and ninety one (41.8%) mothersrnexclusively breast-fed for six months. Overall, mean age of weaning was 5.59 (SD±1.34)rnmonths. Mother’s education was directly associated with exclusive breast-feedingrnpractice (OR= 0.52; 95% CI, 0.25-0.94). Similarly husband’s occupation wasrnsignificantly associated with exclusive breast-feeding (OR=0.66; 95% CI, 0.44-0.99) inrnprivate employed and (OR= 0.43; 95% CI, 0.21-0.91) in the un-employed husbandsrncompared to the government-employed husbands. Prevalence of diarrhea was 26.35%,rnand odds of experiencing diarrhea was higher in infants from single mothers than in thernmarried mothers (OR=2.50; 95% C.I, 1.55-4.02). Infants from un-employed fathers werernalso at higher odds of experiencing diarrhea than the infants from employed fathers (OR=rn3.45; 95% CI, 1.56-7.68). A higher proportion of infants who were not exclusivelyrnbreast-fed developed diarrhea compared to those who were exclusively breast-fed that isrn29.9% and 21.6% respectively.rnixrnIn our study, weaning and exclusive breast-feeding was relatively good, but arnconsiderable proportion of infants were not on weaning diet until the time of study. Overrna quarter of infants in the town are suffering from diarrheal morbidity, it is highlyrnpronounced in infants whose mothers are uneducated and unmarried. Infants fromrnunemployed fathers were at higher odds of experiencing diarrhea than infants whosernfathers were governmental employed. So as to address the existing diarrheal morbidityrnthe district health office and local NGO’s should educate parents and equip parents withrnup to date information on benefits of breast-feeding, timing of weaning, infant care andrnfeeding, and should work in harmony in the practice of infant feeding and controllingrndiarrhea in the town.

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