Weaning practices among some Nigerian women: implication on oral health

The objective of this study was to document the various weaning diets given by some Nigerian women and consider their implication on the oral health of their children. A cross sectional survey was conducted among 700 volunteer mothers of young children aged between 6-18 months in Ibadan, a city in south-western Nigerian. Results revealed that pap was the most frequently given food to the infants as 607 (86.7%) of them ate it. Chocolate beverages, natural fruit juice and soft drinks were the most commonly given drinks as 88.1%, 79.9% and 70.3% babies were said to be given these respectively. Over 57% of mothers sweetened pap with sugar. Forty seven percent of mothers added glucose to children's drinking water. Over two-third (64.9%) of children ate biscuits several times a day. Soft drinks, commercial fruit juices and squash were consumed by 16.1%, 9.6% and 7.7% of the infants respectively on a daily basis. Judging by the findings of this study, it is evident that many infants are being exposed to a highly cariogenic diet at an early age. In the light of the harmful effect of these foods and drinks on the body and teeth, it is important that oral health care workers initiate moves to discourage this habit via health education programmes. Nurses, community health workers at various levels, pregnant women and mothers of young children should be the targets of such intervention.