Comparison of Knowledge and Practices of Infant and Young Child Feeding between Working and Non-working Mothers attending Clinic at Comprehensive Health Centre Dadin Kowa, Jos Plateau State

Abstract

Background: About 60% of all deaths among children less than 5 years of age are directly or indirectly attributed to malnutrition. The feeding behaviour of a working woman is a combination of her perceptions, awareness, facilities, and support from family and the community. It is more challenging for employed women to balance their feeding responsibilities and work. The purpose of this study was to compare the knowledge and practice of Infant and Young Child Feeding between working and nonworking mothers in Dadin Kowa, Jos South Local Government Area.  Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 250 women from Dadin Kowa selected using the Multistage Sampling technique; 125 were working while 125 were not gainfully employed. Data was collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and SPSS software version 26 was used for data analysis. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant at a 95% confidence interval. Results: The majority; 92(73.6%) of the nonworking mothers had good knowledge of Infant and Young Child Feeding compared to 59(47.2%) working mothers (P=0.0001). A higher proportion of non-working; 78(62.4%) than working; 60(48.0%) mothers had good Infant and Young Child Feeding practices. This difference between the two groups was also statistically significant (p = 0.005). Conclusion: This study found that nonworking mothers’ knowledge and practice of infant and young child feeding was better than that of working mothers. Promoting breastfeeding in the workplace and further research are necessary to improve Infant and Young Child Feeding