Assessment of knowledge regarding recommended weaning practices amongst tribal mothers of Sabarkantha

Abstract

Weaning refers to the period during which an infant gradually becomes accustomed to food other than milk. Weaning too early may cause baby at higher risk of developing digestive disorders and adverse reactions or allergies to certain foods. On the other hand, weaning too late may deprive adequate nutrition and can result in improper growth and development. In the present study assessment of knowledge regarding recommended weaning practices among tribal mothers of Sabarkantha was carried out. Two tribal taluka of Sabarkantha i.e. Khedbrahma and Poshina taluka were purposefully selected for the study. Total 120 tribal mothers were selected using random sampling. Data was collected with the help of personal interview method. SPSS windows version 19.0 was used for statistical analysis and frequency, per cent, mean, standard deviation were calculated. It can be concluded from the study that majority of tribal mothers were coming from lower socioeconomic group, living in large, joint families, having limited resources and low literacy was observed. Majority of mothers were having medium knowledge about recommended weaning foods and practices. Longer period of exclusive breast feeding and late introduction of weaning foods on regular bases than recommendation was observed. It was also found that mother’s education and father’s / husband’s education shows significant positive correlation with the knowledge level of tribal mother regarding recommended weaning practices.