Infant and young child feeding practices among mothers in Palo, Leyte: Determinants and association with children\u27s nutritional status

The study aimed to describe the feeding practices of mothers with children \u3c24 months in Palo, Leyte and to determine the association of their feeding practices with the level of their knowledge on children\u27s nutrition \u3c24 months, the level of their access to maternal health services and mass media, and the level of nutritional status of their children. The study used a descriptive research design. Using the quantitative methodological approach, survey was used as its data collection technique with the use of an interview schedule as research instrument. A simple random sampling was used to select 95 mothers (18-49 years old) who have children aged \u3c24 months, and a resident of Palo, Leyte. Descriptive statistics was used to determine the level of their knowledge on children\u27s nutrition, the level of access to maternal health services and mass media, and level of nutritional status of their children. Results showed that they have high level of knowledge on children\u27s nutrition, mostly have 4 antenatal visits, have NSVD, they gave birth at health facility with the presence of skilled birth attendant, and that they have low level of access to mass media. Most children have a normal nutritional status, while 25% were stunted, 13% severely stunted, 6% wasted and 2% severely wasted. Inferential statistics were performed to determine the association of their feeding practices with the level of their knowledge on children\u27s nutrition, the level of their access to maternal health services and mass media, the level of nutritional status of their children. Results showed that knowledge on children\u27s nutrition and access to maternal health services specifically, mothers who had cesarean on type of delivery, those who gave birth at home and had traditional birth attendant are found to be determinants of mothers appropriate feeding practices with their children \u3c24 months