Assessment of Breast Feeding and Complementary Feeding Practices and Importance of Right Nutrition in the First 1000 Days of a Child?s Life

Optimum Nutrition during first 2 years of life is of paramount importance as this is a period of rapid growth, behavioral and cognitive development. The aim of the study is to elicit information about Maternal Nutrition, Breast feeding and weaning practices among mothers attending pediatric OPD at Apoorva Hospital, Hyderabad with pretested well - structured questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were recorded to check the growth of the infants. In the study it was found that about 82% of the study subjects received exclusive breast feeding for 6 months.54% of total study subjects received breast milk as their first feed while about 35% received honey (pre lacteal feed) as their first feed. The main problem noticed in the study was late initiation of breast milk only 14 % of the mothers reported to initiate breast feeding to their babies as soon as their birth (within half an hour). In the study, majority of the participants 77% unanimously agreed to initiate complementary feeding after 6 months. Although the study revealed appreciable breastfeeding practices, there is still a need for health education programs aimed at educating mothers during the antenatal period about importance of maternal nutrition and particularly the need to initiate early breast feeding.