A training intervention on child feeding among primary healthcare workers in Ibadan Municipality

Health workers at the primary level are well positioned to provide health information and counselling on child feeding to mothers on antenatal visits. The study was designed to evaluate the effect of training on the knowledge, attitudes and provision of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) information and counselling among primary healthcare (PHC) workers.

A two-stage cluster sample was used to select health workers for training on IYCF in Ibadan, Nigeria. Baseline, immediate and 4-week post-training surveys were conducted to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of health workers regarding IYCF. Paired t-tests were used to measure differences (p < 0.05) before and after the training.

A total of 124 health workers were trained on current global IYCF recommendations. Participants included community health extension workers (59.7%), nurses (27.4%), community health officers (11.3%), and pharmacy technicians (1.6%). Mean age was 41.8 ± 8.2 years and 95.2% were women. Knowledge of health workers regarding IYCF, particularly complementary feeding, was low at baseline but improved significantly following the training intervention. Attitudes and practices regarding provision of IYCF were suboptimal among health workers at the PHC facilities, but this improved with training.

Health workers at the PHC level need regular retraining exercises to ensure effective counselling on IYCF.