Abstract: The objective of this study is to assess feeding problems among under-two children in Ibadan South-West local government area in Oyo state, Nigeria. Method: Two hundred and seventy mother-child pairs were recruited for the study from selected primary health-care centres in Ibadan South West local government Area. A semi- structured questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-economic characteristics, feeding patterns and feeding behavior of children and mothers’ perception and coping feeding behavior. Results: The mean age of the children surveyed was 11.03± 4.21months with 52.2% being males. The average age of mothers was 29 years (29.7 ± 5.77), 92% married, 54.1% had secondary education and 37.0% were traders. The most common feeding problems observed among the surveyed children were picky eating, food nephobia, intake of limited variety, food refusal, under-eating and over-eating. About 31.5% of the children had one or more feeding problems. Force-feeding and the use of rewards were the major coping strategies used by the mothers. Conclusion: There exists a spectrum of feeding problems among infant and children in this study population. There is a great need for early detection of feeding problems in children and provision of all round support to children with feeding problems and their mothers to be able to achieve success in feeding.
Keywords: Feeding problems, nutritional status, Picky eating, under-eating
Title: FEEDING PROBLEMS IN INFANCY AND EARLY CHILDHOOD: PREVALENCE AND RELATED FACTORS
Author: Oketunde, Fadekemi B.
International Journal of Healthcare Sciences
ISSN 2348-5728 (Online)
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