Cultural Practices, Exclusive Breastfeeding and Nutrition Status Among Children 0–12 Months in Voinjama District, Liberia

Abstract

The health of women and children has been a target for United Nations World Health Organization. For instance, the health and nutrition status of children under six months solely depends on exclusive breastfeeding where an infant receives only breast milk including the colostrum from the mother without any other liquid or kind of food. However, in Liberia, many women discard colostrum believing that it is not good or healthy for the infant. In addition to the placenta, colostrum is usually discarded with believed that babies will die if they consume it. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the cultural practices, exclusive breastfeeding, and education on the nutrition status of children aged 0-12 months in Voinjama District, Liberia. The results of this study show that majority of the mothers with children aged 0-12 months disliked compliments to their infant believing that an evil eye can cause the infant to fall ill. Mothers preferred to cut the umbilical cord within one week, believing that the cord should be 5-7 cm from the skin and that it should be buried as a way of disposal. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect data from 149 mothers of children aged 0 – 12 months in Voinjama District, Lofa County. Descriptive statistics were used to access the cultural practices, demographic and social characteristics of mothers; nutrition status and breastfeeding practices on nutritional status of children aged 0 – 12 months. Additionally, Binary Logistics regression model were employed for data analysis. The results revealed that mothers exclusively breastfeed a child between the age of three and six months. Children between 0 to 12 months ate food and snacks three times other than liquids; consumed Iron-rich or Iron-fortified foods, and were fed with food to which powder or sprinkles had been added. On the age when babies should start eating food in addition to breast milk, mothers recommended the 7th month. On average, an infant’s birth weight, height, and the child’s index weight were 3.9kgs, 44.3cm, and 4.2kg, respectively. Almost all (99.1%) children under study were stunted, 14% of the children had a moderate wasting status and were moderately underweight while 87% of the 0-12 months old children had a severe wasting status and were severely underweight. The findings further show that cultural practices had significant and negative influence on exclusive breast feeding and level of education had significant and positive effect on exclusive breastfeeding. Therefore, the study suggested that more emphasis should be place on education among women due to its positive effect on exclusive breastfeeding. At the same time, some cultural practices should be discontinued as they im-pede the gains made in the study area. Additionally, there is need to highlight their areas of weakness and take measures to improve on them to ensure that nutrition is taken seriously with concern over the health and

wellbeing of the children. The study further recommends the need for other stakeholders including ministry of education to consider incorporating nutritional education in institutions of learning to enhance capacity as well as competency among persons disseminating information about breastfeeding and nutrition to mothers. Finally, it is important for relevant institutions and government agencies to consider evaluating the attitude of peers and healthcare providers towards breastfeeding.