Exclusive breastfeeding practice: its implication on nutrition status, growth and morbidity pattern among infants aged 0-6 months

Abstract

Breast - feeding is an important determinant of a child’s nutritional status that eventually influences his/her growth and development. This study sought to assess the exclusive breastfeeding rate and determine its association with nutrition status, growth and morbidity pattern among infants aged 0 - 6 months in a peri urban settlement of Kangemi - Nairobi County, Kenya. A descriptive cross - sectional study was conducted. A random sample of 334 infants was studied. Data collection tools and methods included a semi - structured questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. A c hi - square test was used to find associations at a significance level of 0.05. Findings showed that over a half (52.7%) of study infa nts were girls and almost a half (47.3%) were boys. The mean age was 3 ± 1.8 months. The exclusive breastfeeding rate was 45.5% and it was associated with growth and stunting (9.3%) among study infants. Wasting ( 3.1%), underweight (4.5%) and morbidity patter n were not related with exclusive breastfeeding