A STUDY REGARDING AWARENESS ABOUT WEANING AMONG MOTHERS VISITING PEDIATRIC MEDICINE DEPARTMENT

Objective: To determine the awareness among mothers visiting pediatrics OPD and ward in THQ Hospita l Ahmed Pur East, Bahawalpur. To create awareness and health consciousness about hazards of not starting weaning at proper time. Study Design: Observational Cross-sectional Descriptive Study. Study Setting: Study was conducted at Pediatrics Ward THQ Hospital Ahmed Pur East, Bahawalpur. Study Duration: From August, 2017 to April 2018. Study Population: A total of 100 mothers of reproductive age (15-45 years) were selected. Questionnaire was designed based on questions relevant to the objective of the study. Data was collected with informed consent and was analyzes by SPSS version. Results: 100 mothers of reproductive age (15-45 years) were questioned. Among them 74% knew about weaning, 18% to some extent and 8% did not know at all.60% of mothers were literate and other 40% illiterate.34% of them were the resident of rural area,16% of them were the resident of semi-urban area and the rest 50% were the resident of urban area.54% knew problems associated with not starting weaning,24% to some extent 22% did not know it all. Among them 37% had income up to 10,000 PKR per month, 14% up to 20,000 PKR per month,27% up to 25,000 PKR per month,15% up to 50,000 PKR per month and 7% above 50,000 PKR per month. 78% fed mother's milk,1% cow's milk and other 6% formula milk.59% of them started weaning between the infant age of 4-6months,11% between 7-9 months of age, 12% between 10-12 months and rest 18% between 1-1.5 years of age. 67% continued weaning during illness, 28% stopped weaning during illness and other 5% did not know what to do. 86% continued weaning during routine vaccination, 5% discontinued weaning and rest 9% did not know what to do. Foods which were included in weaning consisted of khichri 61%,Bread 36%,Banana 23%, Halva 20%, Cereals 18%, Cereals 18%.Bisciuts 10%, Dalia 9%, Yogurts 5%,Meshed potato 3%,Meshed meat 3%,Choori 1% and Noodles 1%. Conclusion: Evaluation of awareness among mothers were evaluated and analyzed to be poor with respect to their poor economic and poor educational status. Key Words: Weaning ,Pediatrics ward , THQ Hospital Ahmed Pur East, Bahawalpur