ABSTRACT

 The study was done to assess the perceived effect of social media on the infant feeding practices ofmother's in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia state. The study specially sought to determine the knowledge ofsocial media among mothers in the LGA; types of social media in use by mothers; the infant feeding practices in use by mothers; the perceived effects of social ’ media oh mothers’ feeding practices; as well as perceptions ofmothers on the use ofsocial media to promote infants’ feeding in Umuahia North LGA. The study was a descriptive study in which quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire. A total number of 180 mothers living in Umuahia North LGA with children between 0 and 12 months of age completed this. survey. A simple random sampling technique was employed-. From the result obtained from this study, the mean age of the respondents was 29.97±5.44 years, (SE' ±- 0.4055). Majority (63.33%) of the respondents were between the ages of 25 to 34 years. The majority of the respondents (88.89%) had at least a secondary school education, with about 3.33% not having any' formal education. The active users of social media and Facebook were 68.33% of the total respondents' (50.38%) was the most preferred social media platform. Despite high rates of 'social media use, only 25% of respondents indicated that social media and other internet websites influenced their child ffeeding decisions. In general;48:89%- of all the respondents initiated breastfeeding within the first hour of delivery, 52.22% practiced exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and 74.44% breastfed for up to a year. Although only. 25% of the population agreed that social media influenced their decision as ifregards to infant, feeding, about half of these mothers (52.22%) studied who relied on social media as source of information had good knowledge and practiced good infant feeding. Most mothers (61.67%) felt that social media-based-information may not be reliable-however most of them (92%) agreed that social media could be an acceptable modality for delivering child health information if' the content was managed by a trusted .source. In conclusion, only 25% of mothers agreed that social media influenced their decision positively as regards to infant feeding, and about half of them had good knowledge and practiced good infant feeding. There was however clear expression Ofinterest in social media as a tool to communicate information regarding child health and feeding in the context of a clinic-delivered child health promotion program.