Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices and it’s determinants in flood-affected communities in Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The immediate effect of child malnutrition in Africa is morbidity. In the longer term, it limits the child’s potential for life even when the child manages to survive its instantaneous effects. This cross-sectional study focused on investigating the socio-demographic determinants of the components of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) in flood-affected Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Edo State, Nigeria. A total of 400 mothers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results from this current study indicate that only about 48% of mothers surveyed exclusively breastfed theirs under 5 children. Also, only about 55% of mothers initiated breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth and gave colostrum, and about 45% of the mothers actually adhered strictly to the prescribed complementary feeding practice of giving nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods alongside breastfeeding at six months up till 2 years of age and even beyond. Education, source of income, marital status, and access to healthcare facilities were strong influencers of misconceptions and other factors impeding the implementation of the core components of IYCF as observed in this study. Flood remains a significant contributing factor depleting household food security structures leading to maternal and infant malnutrition. A concerted governmental coordinated intervention is required to relieve flood-affected families of the burden of malnutrition and infectious diseases. Training and retraining of health workers will be helpful in strengthening community involvement in implementing and monitoring IYCF components in the community. Longer maternity leave for nursing mothers should be strongly advocated for.