Factors Influencing Male Involvement In Young Children Feeding Practices: A Case Of Dagoretti Informal Settlements.

Abstract

The involvement of men in maternal and child nutrition, presents an opportunity for improvement child and maternal nutrition as men often play a key role in decision-making particularly regarding access to foods and spending on healthcare. While most research of men‘s involvement has focused on men‘s participation in gender-based violence programs, sexual and reproductive health (family planning), this research focused on men‘s involvement in maternal and child health specifically involvement in child feeding pratices .The purpose of this study was to explore factors influencing male involvement in young child feeding practices in Dagoretti informal settlements. The study identified knowledge, attitude and beliefs regarding male involvement in child feeding practices; it also investigated factors hindering male involvement and finally strategies to involve men in child feeding practices. Through a qualitative approach, 20 women and 30 men with children aged 6 to 23 months participated in in-depth interviews. Local key informants were used to validate information given by men and women. The transcripts were reviewed for quality and a code tree developed following review of the transcripts to identify emerging codes. Coding was done on NVivo and themes were directly drawn from the data to inform the study results. Most participants reported that men had basic knowledge regarding appropriate foods for children and pregnant women. Men also reported on avoiding accompanying their wives to the clinic giving underlying reasons for the behavior. In addition, most of the women reported that men were being mindful of what the predominant culture defined as a man‘s role in child feeding and therefore only did activities that fit within their roles. Therefore, the study recommends that nutrition education should be taken up by various stakeholders so that the men can improve their knowledge on child feeding practices , flexibility of health outreaches so as to accommodate men and finally direct messages and sensitization the the importance of male involvement in child feeding and nutrition.