Timely Initiation of Complementary Feeding Practice among Mothers and Care Givers of Children Age 6 To 24 Months in Goba Town, Southeast Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Complementary feeding is the introduction of solid or semi -solid foods at six months of age with small amounts and increasing the quantity as the child gets older, while maintaining frequent breast feeding. The target range for complementary feeding is generally taking to be 6-24 months while breast feeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond. Inappropriate initiation of complementary feeding practices is a major obstacle in attaining and maintaining child health. Objective: To assess prevalence of timely initiation of complementary feeding practice among mothers of children aged from 6 to 24 months living in Goba town, Bale zone, south east Ethiopia from April 20 to June 20, 2019. Methodology: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 346 mothers or care givers who have children 6-24 months of age living in 03 kebele, Goba town, selected by simple random sampling technique. Data was collected by trained interviewer using semi-structured questionnaires filled for respondent after data collection, all collected data analyzed by SPSS software version 20. Result: A total of 346 mothers who had children 6 to 24 months of age were responded to the questionnaire. Ethnic composition shows that Oromo 175 (50.6%), Amharic accounts for, 151 (43.6%), Others 12 (3.5%) and Tigre 8 (2.3%). Regarding to religion Orthodox237 (68.5%), Muslim 89(25.7) and protestant religion 20(5.8%). Among the respondent occupational status 230(66.5%) were house wife, 59(17.1%) merchants, 47(13.6%) governmental workers and students are the least dominant. Marital status mother and care giver 340(98.3%) married and 4(1.2%) and 2(0.6%) of mother and care giver were single and divorced respectively. About 292(84.4%) mothers had started complementary feeding at the right time, that is 6 month of age, while 35(10.1%) of mother had started in the age of before six months, and the rest 19(5.5%) mothers started by the age of after six months. Conclusion: In this study, initiation of complementary feeding at the recommended time of six months was seen in the majority of children. Inadequate let down of breast milk, due to medical illness, and breast problem were some of the reasons mentioned by mothers who initiated early whereas lack of knowledge were they started complementary feeding, immature stomach, and the advice of family members were the reasons for late initiation of CF.