Magnitude and determinants of bottle feeding in rural communities.

BACKGROUND

Though bottle feeding is known to be hazardous either due to over-dilution of the supplement or faulty hygienic techniques during its preparation, especially in areas where general sanitation is poor, very little attention has been paid to it in developing countries.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the extent of bottle use in child feeding and the factors associated with its use in rural communities.

DESIGN

Community based cross-sectional study.

PATIENTS

One thousand five hundred and thirty six children, aged 0-23 months and their mothers were included in the study.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of bottle feeding was 11.3%. Out of the 174 children who were bottle fed, only 11(6.3%) were exclusively on it. Residence, maternal education and occupation were significantly associated with the practice of bottle feeding in the crude analysis and after adjusting for parental and child characteristics (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The extent of bottle feeding in the studied communities is generally high, with a higher rate among town women, a trend which was seen in the developed world at the beginning of the century. Improvement in maternal and child health services including education on child feeding are recommended.