Abstract:
Introduction: Early childhood nutrition plays an
important role in growth and development of
children. However, due to false beliefs of parents,
undue prominence has been given to milk in the
child’s diet.
Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitudes,
practices and factors related to milk powder usage
among mothers of 1-5 year old children.
Method: A cross sectional study was carried out
among 187 mothers of 1-5 year old children in five
randomly selected weighing centres in Pitakotte
MOH area using an interviewer administered
questionnaire. Scores were given to knowledge,
attitudes and practice.
Results: The mean age of the children was 32 (SD
16.3) months. Mothers’ knowledge on milk/milk
powder and their usage was good in 20% and level
of attitudes was good in 55%. Parents received
information regarding milk powder from doctors
(42.4%) and TV advertisements (36.5%). The
commonest factor mothers considered when
selecting a milk powder was the brand name
(69.7%). Mean age of initiating cow’s milk was
13.5 (SD 9.2) months. Forty seven percent selected
a single brand to start feeding their children. At the
time of conducting the survey, 47% were using one
particular brand of full cream. While 52.8% gave
concentrated milk, 33.7% gave diluted milk. One
hundred and one (62%) used a cup while 44 (27%)
used a bottle to give milk. Sixty (36.8%) mothers
were giving the correct volume of milk, while 95
(58.3%) gave more than recommended. There was
a statistically significant association between social
class and level of practice (χ
2
=5.19;p<0.05;df=1).
Practice was not significantly associated with
mother’s level of attitudes, knowledge, age,
education, parity or the sex of the child.Conclusions: Knowledge and practice regarding
milk and milk powder usage among mothers is
poor. Mothers of lower social classes have a good
level of practice.
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