Influence of Family and Social Attributes on Caregivers Feeding Practices in the Northern Region of Ghana

This qualitative study of the influence of family and social attributes on caregivers’ feeding practices explores how socioeconomic and cultural factors affect caregivers’ feeding practices in the Northern Region of Ghana. The study further assessed how mealtime structure, feeding styles, and food availability and accessibility affected caregivers’ feeding practices. Seventy-nine caregivers of children under five years in the Savelugu/Nanton Municipality and Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo District in the Northern Region of Ghana participated in eight focus group discussions. The results showed that caregivers fed foods that were available and accessible at the family level. The results further revealed that caregivers adopted the authoritative feeding style and caregivers’ employment, income status and family mealtime structure seem to affect caregivers feeding practices. These findings have important implications for developing strategies to curb the high malnutrition prevalence in the study areas. Providing educational programmes by the Ghana Health Service and their partners would go a long way to improve good feeding practices and improve the health status of children in the study areas and Ghana as a country.