Publication

Abstract : A descriptive study to explore the feeding practices on health outcome of infants1 among mothers in pediatric wards at AIMS, Kochi. objectives of the study : (1) Identify the breast feeding practices of mothers of infants (2) Identify the self reported practice of infant feeding among mothers (3) Correlate the feeding practices with the health outcome of infants (4) Find association between feeding practices of mothers of infants with selected demographic variables (5) Prepare an information booklet for mothers on feeding practices of infants. Methodology : A Quantitative research approach has been used in the study, with a primary objective to determine the feeding practices of mothers of infants. The data was collected by using structured questionnaire on demographic variables and used open ended questions to explore the feeding practices of mothers of infants. The data was analyzed by using descriptive (frequency and percentage) and inferential (Pearson's correlation coefficient, Chi-square test) statistics. Results : Among 60 mothers of infants 40 (66.6%) had average practices and 20 (33.3%) had poor practice in infant breastfeeding, 45 (75%) had average practices and 15 (25%) had poor practice in infant feeding practices. The result showed that there were no significant correlation between feeding practices and health outcome of infants. There were no significant association between the feeding practices and selected demographic variables in mothers of infants. Conclusion : The study findings showed that most of the mothers had average feeding practices. There was no correlation between feeding practices and health outcome. There was no association between infant feeding practices and selected demographic variables.