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Pattern of infants' feeding and weaning in Suez Governorate, Egypt: an exploratory study
Laila Kamel1, Hend Sabry1, Marwa Ismail1
1Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Insights
Egyptian infants show poor breastfeeding and weaning practices, with low rates of exclusive breastfeeding and inadequate dietary diversity, particularly in rural areas. Mothers desire more education from primary healthcare centers.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Nutrition
Background:
- Exclusive breastfeeding rates in Egypt are critically low (13% by 4-5 months).
- Hospital practices for supporting breastfeeding often fall short of recommended guidelines.
- Infant feeding and weaning practices significantly impact Sustainable Development Goals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate infant feeding and weaning patterns in Egypt.
- To identify factors influencing these practices.
- To inform strategies for improving infant nutrition and health outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 333 mother-infant pairs in Egyptian primary healthcare (PHC) centers.
- Data collected via structured questionnaires during vaccination visits (April 2017 - June 2018).
- Analysis of feeding practices, dietary diversity, and meal frequency.
Main Results:
- Exclusive breastfeeding is uncommon; prelacteal feeding and early artificial feeding initiation are prevalent.
- Rural infants receive complementary foods earlier but have lower dietary diversity and meal frequency than urban counterparts.
- Over 85% of mothers seek more breastfeeding/weaning knowledge, with PHC centers identified as a preferred source.
Conclusions:
- Maternal practices regarding infant feeding and weaning require significant improvement in Egypt.
- Despite regular PHC visits, knowledge gaps persist, highlighting a need for enhanced educational interventions.
- Targeted support is crucial to promote optimal infant nutrition and health.
Background:
Breastfeeding and proper weaning contribute to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In Egypt, by age 4-5 months, only 13% of infants are exclusively breastfed. A survey conducted in Egyptian hospitals concluded that many of the 10 steps to support successful breastfeeding were not executed correctly and other steps were not executed at all.
Aims:
To explore the patterns of feeding and weaning among infants in Egypt, and identify their determinants, to improve practice and promote children's nutritional status.
Methods:
A cross-sectional analytical study of 333 mother-infant pairs attending two primary healthcare (PHC) centres for vaccination sessions between April 2017 and June 2018. Mothers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire.
Results:
Almost all infants were born in hospitals. Exclusive breastfeeding was not widely practiced. Prelacteal feeding was a common malpractice. The majority of mothers initiated artificial feeding during the first month of life. Rural mothers tended to introduce different foods earlier than urban mothers did. Minimum dietary diversity was achieved by 50.9% of urban infants aged ≥ 6 months (≥ 4 food groups), compared with 25.9% of rural infants. Minimum recommended meal frequency for age was fulfilled for 51.9% of urban and 29.6% of rural infants. More than 85% of mothers expressed their need for additional knowledge, and more than half identified the PHC centre as the appropriate source for information.
Conclusions:
Our study reflects deficiency in maternal practice regarding breastfeeding and weaning, despite being regular visitors to the PHC centre.
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