ABSTRACT

This study aimed at assessing the dietary diversity, feeding pattern and anthropometric measurement of breastfeeding mothers and ascertain the relationship between breastfeeding mothers dietary diversity, feeding pattern and anthropometric status of their children in Obowo Local Government Area of Imo state. The data on feeding practice, dietary diversity of the mothers and anthropometric status of the children were obtained with the use of questionnaire. A total of 400 breastfeeding mothers responded to the questionnaire. The result of the study revealed that 33.7% of the mothers were between the ages of 21-30yrs, More than half (51.7%) of the mothers were married. More than half (54.3%) of the mothers had tertiary education and 30.6% of the mothers were traders. A quarter (25.4%) of the mothers earned less than 30,000 naira monthly. Majority (73.4%) of the mothers worked between 4-8 hours daily, 16% worked for more than 8 hours. Less than half (46.9%) of the mothers ate 3 times daily, 41.4% ate more 4 or more times daily. The Majority (80.3%) of the mothers ate at home. More than half (53.7%) of the mothers ate when they are hungry and 25.4% ate once the food is available and are satisfied with the food they ate. Most (60.3%) of the mothers do not skip meals. Most (62.0%) of the mothers consumed in between meals sometimes and 34.0% of the mothers reported that their favorite food is rice. All the mothers have a high dietary diversity score. This implied that the mothers consumed food from more than 6 food groups in the last 24 hours. Most (67.1%) of the mothers consume garri twice a day. More than half (52.3%) of the mothers consume meat once daily. The anthropometric status revealed that the majority (73.7%) of the babies had a normal BMI for their age and 12.5% of the babies were overweight. This showed that the children were moderately nourished. Most of the babies (60.1%) had a normal height for their age. Majority (91.4%) of the babies had a normal weight for their age and the majority (83.1%) of the children had a normal mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). A strong positive relationship was observed between the dietary diversity score of the mothers and the MUAC of the children. The Study recommended that breastfeeding mothers should consume more of vegetables, fruits and high protein diets which help the body to replenish the nutrient it needs to produce healthy breastmilk for their babies.