Maternal Feeding Practices of Children One to Three Years in Collins Chabane Municipality of South Africa

ABSTRACT

The aim was to assess maternal feeding practices of children one to three years. A descriptive observational design was employed. The sample consisted of mothers-child dyads. A validated structured questionnaire was used. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26.0. The nutrition status of the children at birth indicated 11.6% underweight as compared to the time of the study (7.2%), 7.9% were stunted increased to 38.0%, while wasting decreased from 11.4%–2.4%. Early cessation of breastfeeding and inappropriate complementary feeding practices were the factors influencing growth. The prevalence of underweight and wasting were low while stunting and overweight were high.

KEYWORDS:

• Children one to three years
• growth
• maternal feeding practices
• South Africa

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the mothers and children who participated in this study for their cooperation and support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data is available from the corresponding author [email protected].

Additional information

Funding

Departmental funding from Human Nutrition at the University of Venda.