DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2014.v02i04.056

Pages: 1422-1427

Exclusive breastfeeding is the cornerstone of adequate early infant nutrition. Prelacteal feeds such as honey, sugar-water, jaggery water, castor oil, goat’s milk are given under the belief that they act as laxatives, cleansing agents or hydrating agents or as a mean of clearing the Meconium which carries potential risk of infection and aspiration. Aim and objective was to study prelacteal feeding practices among infants in rural area of the Maharashtra and to study socio demographic factors associated with prelacteal feeding. It is a community based cross sectional descriptive study conducted in the rural area of Maharashtra. All mothers in the age group of 15-45 from selected village having children in the age group of 0-1 years enlisted with help of AWW and data is collected with help of pretested, predesigned questionnaire in local language by house to house visit. Data analyzed using SPSS version 16. Proportion and chi square test used. Prevalence of the prelacteal feeding practices among the study population of 42.7%. Mother’s educational status, type of family, lower socioeconomic status, place of delivery and counseling by health staff significantly associated with the prelacteal feeding practices. Counseling by the health staff during antenatal visits and promotion of the hospital delivery will have positive impact on the prelacteal feeding practices.