Introduction: The use of proper feeding practices is key for the overall development of children. Generally, breastfeeding and complementary feeding make up the diet and therefore the nutritional status of children. H...Introduction: The use of proper feeding practices is key for the overall development of children. Generally, breastfeeding and complementary feeding make up the diet and therefore the nutritional status of children. However, the degree to which mothers adhere to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) regarding breastfeeding and complementary feeding is key to the nutritional status of children. Again, the adherence to this dietary recommendation is contingent on the socio-economic conditions of the child-bearing parents, especially the mothers. Here in this study, the socio-economic characteristics were analyzed along with the feeding practices of children not more than five years old in rural Sierra Leone. Method: Data were collected in 2017 on representative mothers with children within 0 - 5 years old. A total of 10 communities and 200 respondents were randomly covered in the Kori Chiefdom of Moyamba District, Sierra Leone. The data collection instruments included structured questionnaire, inter-personal interaction, personal observation and experience. The collected data were analyzed in Microsoft Excel and SPSS and the results presented in simple graphs. Results: A large number of the respondents were married teenage mothers with 1 - 2 children and living under extreme hardship by the United Nations (UN) standard. Also, most of the mothers were illiterate and started breastfeeding their children within the very hour of birth. Because complementary feeding was started all too early, exclusive breastfeeding last for not more than two months for most of the respondent mothers. Also, because rice is by far the most widely eaten the staple food in Sierra Leone, complementary food was mostly powdered rice mixed with salt and oil. Hardly was protein food supplement used as complementary food, probably due to the economic conditions of the poor rural women. Conclusion: The study has thrown sufficient light on the socio-economic characteristics and adopted feeding practices of children in poor rural Sierra Leone. In this sense, the study has laid the basis for sufficient for in-depth correlativity studies on the factors driving feeding practices of children and how it in turn impacts nutritional status of children in poor rural Africa. From here, practically adoptable recommendations can be advanced for the attention of the governments, public institutions, the private sector and the individuals of the society.展开更多
IN the past, embracing the idea that "more children means more happiness", rural women thought that if they bear many children, they would be better supported in their old age. So most of the elderly people ...IN the past, embracing the idea that "more children means more happiness", rural women thought that if they bear many children, they would be better supported in their old age. So most of the elderly people in Hezhuang Village have up to seven or eigbt children. But in a village in the Linyi City district of Shandong Province, more children has not meant more happiness for parents. Wang Shixiang has four sons and two daughters. Last year, she and her husband finally paid off the展开更多
XIAO Li is a worker with a textile factory and has been married four years. At the end of last year she got pregnant and was excited by the news she would soon become a mother. But she was not sure what insurance she ...XIAO Li is a worker with a textile factory and has been married four years. At the end of last year she got pregnant and was excited by the news she would soon become a mother. But she was not sure what insurance she could enjoy during her child-bearing period. She went to ask the person who is in charge of the women's section of her展开更多
文摘Introduction: The use of proper feeding practices is key for the overall development of children. Generally, breastfeeding and complementary feeding make up the diet and therefore the nutritional status of children. However, the degree to which mothers adhere to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) regarding breastfeeding and complementary feeding is key to the nutritional status of children. Again, the adherence to this dietary recommendation is contingent on the socio-economic conditions of the child-bearing parents, especially the mothers. Here in this study, the socio-economic characteristics were analyzed along with the feeding practices of children not more than five years old in rural Sierra Leone. Method: Data were collected in 2017 on representative mothers with children within 0 - 5 years old. A total of 10 communities and 200 respondents were randomly covered in the Kori Chiefdom of Moyamba District, Sierra Leone. The data collection instruments included structured questionnaire, inter-personal interaction, personal observation and experience. The collected data were analyzed in Microsoft Excel and SPSS and the results presented in simple graphs. Results: A large number of the respondents were married teenage mothers with 1 - 2 children and living under extreme hardship by the United Nations (UN) standard. Also, most of the mothers were illiterate and started breastfeeding their children within the very hour of birth. Because complementary feeding was started all too early, exclusive breastfeeding last for not more than two months for most of the respondent mothers. Also, because rice is by far the most widely eaten the staple food in Sierra Leone, complementary food was mostly powdered rice mixed with salt and oil. Hardly was protein food supplement used as complementary food, probably due to the economic conditions of the poor rural women. Conclusion: The study has thrown sufficient light on the socio-economic characteristics and adopted feeding practices of children in poor rural Sierra Leone. In this sense, the study has laid the basis for sufficient for in-depth correlativity studies on the factors driving feeding practices of children and how it in turn impacts nutritional status of children in poor rural Africa. From here, practically adoptable recommendations can be advanced for the attention of the governments, public institutions, the private sector and the individuals of the society.
文摘IN the past, embracing the idea that "more children means more happiness", rural women thought that if they bear many children, they would be better supported in their old age. So most of the elderly people in Hezhuang Village have up to seven or eigbt children. But in a village in the Linyi City district of Shandong Province, more children has not meant more happiness for parents. Wang Shixiang has four sons and two daughters. Last year, she and her husband finally paid off the
文摘XIAO Li is a worker with a textile factory and has been married four years. At the end of last year she got pregnant and was excited by the news she would soon become a mother. But she was not sure what insurance she could enjoy during her child-bearing period. She went to ask the person who is in charge of the women's section of her
