Feeding practices in Varanasi district

Abstract

This paper describes infant and child feeding practices in the urban, urban slum, and rural areas of the Varanasi district, India. 784 mothers were interviewed to investigate the feeding pattern of their 893 children, all in the 0-5 year age group. In all groups cow's milk or goat's milk was most frequently used as the first food after birth; boiled water and honey was also frequently used as the first food after birth, especially in rural areas. The first feeding was offered mostly within the first 608 hours of birth in the urban and urban slum areas, within the first 4-6 hours of birth in rural areas. The majority of children in all groups were first put to breast on the 3rd day after birth; colostrum was discarded in 90% of children of the urban slum and rural group, while 63.74% of urban children received colostrum. 53.85% of urban children were breastfed up to 6 months, as compared to 10.21% of those in urban slums, or 12.2% in rural areas; breast feeding was prolonged in the slums and in rural areas, and sometimes beyond 2 years of age in rural areas. 66.67% of children in the urban group were weaned before 6 months, as compared to 40.14% and 33.63% in the slums and in the rural group; weaning was markedly delayed in those last 2 groups; 5-9% of children in rural areas were not weaned at all. While 50.55% of urban children recived solid foods between 7-12 months of age, most of slums and rural areas children received solids between 13-18 months. About 20% of urban children were started on an adult diet by 12 months, and the majority by 18 months; most slum or rural children were started between 18-24 months or after 2 years, respectively. 83.62% of urban infants were given foods such as cereals, meat, curd, brinjial and root vegetables, which not given to other groups' infants because of the belief that they can cause clinical disorders. From these observations it appears that traditional and customary child rearing practices are still prevalent in urban slums and rural areas, and certainly not to the advantage of the growth and development of children. Only education on infant health and nutrition imparted to young mothers would correct such age-old infant feeding practices.