Age-appropriate feeding practices of mothers and nutritional status of infants in an urban community in Kano State, North West Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Age-appropriate infant feeding practice, a major determinant of child growth, development, and survival, remains suboptimal in many developing countries. OBJECTIVES: This study determined the mother's nutritional knowledge, infant feeding practices, nutritional status of their infant, and factors associated with infant feeding practice in an urban community in Kano State. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in selected communities in Kano Municipal, one of the urban local government areas in Kano State. Using mixed method of data collection, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 440 mothers and their infants, and three focus group discussions (FGDs) with ten participants in each group were conducted for mothers of infants. Anthropometric indices were used to determine the children's nutritional status. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences statistical software (version 21), while thematic analysis was used to summarize data from the FGDs. RESULTS: Majority of the mothers (87.5%) had adequate knowledge of infant feeding practices. Few (16.8%) of the mothers breastfed exclusively, and many (82.5%) of the mothers introduced complementary foods to their infants before 6 months of age. The prevalence of wasting and stunting among infants was 38.9% and 36.4%, respectively. Educational status and antenatal care were associated with good infant feeding practices. CONCLUSION: Although majority of the caregivers had adequate knowledge of infant feeding, it was not translated to good practice, and thus, nutritional status was poor. Mothers with secondary /tertiary level of education were two times more likely to have good infant feeding practice while mothers that had ANC are four times more likely to have good infant feeding practices Efforts should be made to improve girl child education and develop sustainable strategies to improve feeding practices and nutritional status of children.