By Ihekuna, Dorothy. Chiaka
The study evaluated the feeding pattern, growth and motor milestone development of children attending the under five clinic at the Institute of Child Health UNTH Enugu. Purposive random sampling was used to select 130 mother-infant pairs; 67 male and 63 females. Mothers back ground data and infant feeding practices were collected using validated and pre-tested questionnaire. Duplicate measurements of infants’ weights and lengths were taken for 12 months starting from the first week of life using standard procedures. The dietary intake of a sub sample of the children was recorded for 3 days. Information on gross motor milestones was obtained from mothers and confirmed using standard testing procedures. Analysis of variance was used to analyze the data while Duncan’s multiple range tests was used to separate significant means at 5% probability. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to find the relationship between energy and nutrient intake and nutritional status of the children. Regression analysis was used to determine the effect of socio-economic variable on the anthropometric indices and the nutrient intakes of the children. Majority of the mothers (84.6%) were married with varying degrees of educational attainments and employments. They were rural (43.1%) and urban (56.9%) dwellers. Some (45.4%) of mothers initiated breastfeeding within 30minutes of delivery. On enrolment, 60.8% practiced exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), 23.8% predominant breastfeeding, and 15.6% partial breastfeeding. Only 30.8% of the mothers practiced EBF up to 6months; 86.2% were still breastfeeding at one year. Complementary foods were introduced too early (< 2 and 2 to 3 months) by some mothers. Only 40.8% introduced complementary foods at the recommended age of 6months.The growth velocities of the children declined progressively with age. All anthropometric indices were lower for PBF infants. The quantitative analysis of their diets showed that the children met their protein (15.4g), fat (23.7g) and calcium (299.8mg) intakes at 6 months but requirements for energy and most nutrients investigated were below recommended values at the 9 and 12 months. Irrespective of breastfeeding pattern, breast milk contributed more to the energy (378.2kcal) and nutrient (protein 5.0g, carbohydrate 28.7g, fat 16.3g, calcium 125.5g and iron 0.58mg) intakes at 6th month with its contribution declining with the age of the child.
Wasting, stunting and underweight were observed among the children. The study revealed that the children attained most milestones earlier than WHO reference standard. The respective mean ages for these events were sitting (5.2 vs 6.0), crawling, (7.2 vs 8.5), and walking alone (11.0 vs12.1). Energy intake was found to be positively correlated (r = 0.399) with the age of walking alone. Iron intake was positively correlated with all the anthropometric indices: weight
(r =0.533), length (r = 0.504), weight-for length Z score (r =522), length-for-age Z score
(r =0.497), weight-for-age Z score (r =0.554) and body mass-index-for-age Z score (r =0.512). Among all the anthropometric indices, only weight-for-age was significantly and negatively correlated with walking alone (r = - 0.201). Mothers’ socio-economic status significantly (p