A STUDY ON THE PRACTICE OF LACTATING MOTHERS IN THANJAVUR DISTRICT

Childhood mortality is one of the important indicators of a country's general medical and public health conditions, and consequently, the country's level of socio-economic development. Its decline is therefore not only desirable but also indicative of an improvement in general living standards. In India, 2.1 million children die before their fifth birthday. Half of these children die even before they are 28 days old, accounting for one-fourth global infant deaths. Of the 9.7 million child deaths worldwide annually, one-third occur in India. The statistics are equally shocking among neonate's children new born to a maximum age of 28 days old. While around 4 million children die within the first 28 days of life across the planet every year, India records around one million of these cases. Among the reasons cited for the poor state of infant and child health in India are inadequate neonatal care, insufficient breastfeeding, malnutrition, low immunity and high incidence of communicable diseases. The main objective of the study was to identify the Advancement of Socio-Economic Development by Investing in Child Nutrition and Breastfeeding of Mothers. The researchers adopted descriptive design as they aimed at describing the social and economic development by investing in mother and child health. About 50 respondents were selected through simple random sampling in Thanjavur District. The findings in this study could provide important information for authorities in the health sector to improve the nutritional state of child in the community. The study concluded that the practice of lactating mothers in rural areas seemed to be better.