Trends in Weaning Practices among Infants and Toddlers in a Hilly Terrain of a Newly Formed State of India

BACKGROUND: Weaning plays a major role in determining the nutritional status of a child. Poor weaning practices during infancy and early childhood, resulting in malnutrition, contribute to impairment of cognitive and social development, poor school performance and reduced productivity in later life. The objective of this study is to know weaning practices of mothers of difficult terrain. METHODS: Cross-sectional study was conducted in all villages under Rural Health Training Center, the field practice area of Department of Community Medicine. A total of 500 mothers with children within 3 years of age were included in the study. Pre-tested pre-designed semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on weaning practices. RESULTS: Majority of children (51.57%) were weaned at >6 months and were observed to be more under nourished (79.34%) as compared with those between 4 months and 6 months (61.50%). Majority of boys were weaned earlier than girls irrespective of the age of the weaning. Malnutrition was found in majority of those children who were weaned inadequately in terms of both frequency and amount. CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed suboptimal weaning practices among the mothers of hilly region. Thus, appropriate educational strategies should be directed particularly on counteracting various myths related to infant feeding Moreover, promotion of appropriate feeding should target not only on maternal caregivers, but also on other family members, particularly husbands and grandmothers, taking into account the social and cultural situation of the area.