DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2014.v02i02.036

Pages: 352-358

Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, thereafter complementary feeding with continued breastfeeding up to two years of age and beyond is WHO recommendation. A strategy employed by the Government of Ghana to decrease malnutrition in children was breastfeeding. This was backed by National Breastfeeding Policy. This study was designed to ascertain the feeding practices of mothers of children less than 5 years who delivered at Mamprobi Polyclinic in 2006-2010 and living in Mamprobi community, and the nutritional status of their children. Cross sectional design was used to measure the feeding practices of 300 mothers using structured interview and anthropometric measurement for 400 children living in Mamprobi community. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The findings show that the mothers belong to low socio demographic class. Mothers (78 %) exhibited high knowledge on the importance of breast milk for the child and (60 %) mentioned that exclusive breastfeeding should be up to six months however (83 %) of the mothers gave water mainly Bottled Voltic mineral water to their children within the six months. They lack knowledge on type of solid food to introduce to children as complementary food. Wasting, and stunting were observed among all age groups increasing with age and mothers did not know rational for their actions. Recommendation was improvement in teaching methodology and strengthening support for feeding practices.