Effect of Beliefs and Habits for Family on Infant Feeding

Abstract

: oor dietary habits established during childhood might persist into adulthood, increasing the risk of developing malnutrition-related complications such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, underweight, and obesity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of beliefs and habits of the family on child feeding for 138 children whose ages were 6-24-month-old, their mothers attending the National Institute of Nutrition in the educational kitchen. Data for the research was collected through a questionnaire. The infant was fed on complimentary meals for 6 months the weight, height, and hemoglobin levels were determined before and after feeding. It was found that 63% gave birth by cesarean section, and 43% of the sample had knowledge about breastfeeding from their relatives. About half of the sample (42%) started breastfeeding immediately after birth, while (72. 6%) of mothers used flued breastfeeding and supplied another source of fluid by grandmother encouragement. The results showed that 65.2% did not know the benefits of colostrum milk. The impact of the daily meals (NNI diet) after 6 months showed that it could be noticed that the macronutrients were increased after eating complimentary meals than they were before except carbohydrates level was decreased with complimentary meals.