Weight in relation to feeding practice among two years old children in Al-Hillah City

Abstract

Background: Babies and young children require adequate and high-quality nutrition to grow up healthy and reach their full potential. Breast milk is a baby's healthiest option because it contains all the essential nutrients they need, and it has long been known that breastfeeding is good for both mom and baby.

Objectives:  To determine the relationship between mothers' feeding practices and child weight status under two years old.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive correlational study design was carried out at Babylon Teaching Hospital for maternity and children and Al Nour Hospital, which was applied from December 2019 to the end of February 2020 as a period for data collection. The sample consisted of (150) mothers admitted with their infants in pediatric wards. The instrument was adopted and finally constructed after an extensive literature review to be ready for data collection and consumed 15-20 minutes with each participant.

Results: The study indicated that (76.7%) of mothers have bad feeding practices regarding child feeding, whereas (23.3%) have good feeding practices. In addition to other significant results, our study demonstrates a considerable positive relationship between the mode of feeding and a child's weight.

Conclusions: The vast majority of mothers have bad child-feeding practices. There was a significant correlation between the type of feeding and infant weight and a strong association between the mother’s feeding practice and child weight.

Keywords: Weight, Feeding practice, Two Years Old Children, Effects, Relation.