Frequency of Lactating Mothers Who are Observing Weaning Diet for Their Children Under 2 Years of Age Attending Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore

Abstract: Weaning or introduction of semi-solid food is essential for nutritional requirements of infant at 6 months of age, continuing breast feeding till 24 months. Objective: To determine the frequency of lactating mothers who were observing, weaning diet for their children under 2 years of age attending Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore. Methods: Across sectional study was conducted at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore. 100 lactating mothers were selected through non – probability convenient sampling technique. Lactating mothers attending lactation ward (outdoor), having children under 2 years of age of both sexes were included. They were asked general questions about observing weaning diet for their children. Data were collected through pre – tested questionnaire during April to July 2017. SPSS version 21.0 and Microsoft Excel were used for data analysis. Results: Results of current study showed that 64 % infants were breastfed for 6 months including 41 % boys and 59 % girls, 58 % mothers belonged to low socio – economic status, 58 % were aware about and observing weaning diet, 41 % mothers started weaning at age of 6 months. Mostly khichari, porridge, mashed potato, banana, sweetened biscuits were used as weaning diet. Conclusions: Findings of current study concluded that proper weaning was not enough in majority of cases. Various media information was observed by mothers but due to poor economic status, food practices were poor. Large sized families had food affordability problems. Risk of malnutrition in infants was high because some mothers had no awareness about what, when to use with proper hygiene. Keywords: Weaning practices, weaning food, lactating mothers