KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICES TOWARD COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING AMONG MOTHERS OF CHILDREN AGED 6-24 MONTHS AT KASANGATI HEALTH CENTRE IV

Abstract

World Health Organization notes that complementary feeding should be initiated at six months of age and should be timely, adequate, and appropriate. It is, however, observed that most caretakers hardly fulfill those requirements which leads to malnutrition. Methodology: The study used a cross-sectional research design that employed both qualitative methods for data collection and analysis. A sample size of 374 respondents who were mothers and caretakers of children between 6 and 24 months was selected using a simple random sampling technique. Data was collected using a researcher-administered questionnaire and focus group discussions. Results: Quantitative results indicated that goof CF practices were influenced by getting information about CF from TBAs (AOR: 2945.5, P=0.001), thinking that CF should start after 6 months (AOR: 0.03, P=0.027), giving children CFs twice a day CF (AOR: 15.9, P=0.016), thinking that CFs help a child to become fat (AOR: 25.8, P=0.005), thinking that CFs help the child gain energy (AOR: 0.02, P=0.001), thinking that children should be fed on dairy products (AOR: 0.14, P=0.031), feeding children on foods rich in fat/Oils (AOR: 53.85, P=0.011), awareness that continuation of breastfeeding after 6 months is important in CF (AOR: 99.93, P=0.001), strongest disagreement that malnutrition is caused by witchcraft and evil eye (AOR: 19.85, P=0.026), disagreement that children shouldn‟t be fed during illness (AOR: 0.02, P=0.001), a disagreement that feeding bottles are the best option for feeding children who have refused to breastfeed (AOR: 78.97, P=0.003). Qualitative data results showed that respondents had fair knowledge, poor attitude, and poor practices towards complementary feeding. Conclusion: The study concludes that Respondents had fair knowledge, poor attitude, and poor practices toward complementary feeding. The researcher recommends that mothers receive routine health education about complementary feeding