Determinants of Weaning Practices

A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 334 mother-child pairs of 0-2 year old children in a semi-urban sub-district of Adigrat, Tigrai, Ethiopia. A cluster sampling technique was used to select clusters. The study was undertaken to assess weaning practices in the area and to identify the determinants. A questionnaire comprising both open and close-ended questions was used to collect information. This study has shown early commencement of weaning. The median age at commencement of supplementary diet was three months, and the age range was 1-6 months. More than two-thirds of mothers started supplementary diet before the age of four months. Working mothers had higher chance of early weaning compared to housewives (OR=3.5; 95%CI=1.61,8.14). Similarly, better income mothers had higher chance of early weaning compard to poor mothers (OR=2.2; 95%CI=1.17, 4.06). The most commonly and frequently used foods for child weaning were adult diet (ingera, Kitta, and bread), followed by porridge-gruel and egg. Feeding was so infrequent that about half of the children were fed only once and 95% of them 1-3 times in the previous day. Consumption of vegetables and fruits was very rare. In this study the prevalence of bottle-feeding in infants was 20%. Mothers working outside home had about three times higher chance of bottle-feeding compared to housewives (OR=2.87, 95%CI 1.16, 7.101). (Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 2000, 14(2): 183-189)