Knowledge Of Infant Nutritional Needs In Enugu State: Implications For Child Health In Nigeria.

ABSTRACT

The study was located in Enugu State of South Eastern Nigeria and the focus of the study was

to examine the knowledge of infant nutritional needs. The study population was drawn from

five local government areas of the state, namely, Nsukka, Enugu North, Udenu, Isi-Uzo, and

Igboeze South. The population of Enugu State in the 2006 census exercise was three million,

two hundred and fifty-seven thousand, two hundred and ninety-eight (3,257298) persons

(FGN, Official Gazette, 2007). The study population consisted of married women of

reproductive age (18-49) and their husbands aged 18 and above. The multi – stage sampling

approach was adopted in order to select the local government areas, communities, villages,

households as well as respondents for the study. The five local government areas were

clustered into communities and from these clusters, two communities were selected from

each of the five LGAS through simple random sampling. Three instruments of data collection

were used. These were the questionnaire, focus group discussion guide, and in-depth

interview guide. One thousand (1000) questionnaires were distributed to the respondents.

However, nine hundred and seventy – six (976) were validly completed and returned. The

questionnaire sought information on the socio-economic and educational status of parents,

child mortality, knowledge of infant nutrition and exclusive breastfeeding. For the qualitative

data, a total of ten (10) Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were conducted. The data were

processed and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study

found that many Nigerian families are not aware that they can mash carrot, potato and

cucumber and mix with meat broth and spoon feed their children.. It was found, that more of

the younger respondents had the knowledge of infant nutrition, support exclusive

breastfeeding and perceived the importance of immunization than their older respondents.

However, results show that only place of residence had no relationship with any of the

dependent variables like “knowledge of infant nutrition”, “views about importance of

immunization” and “support of exclusive breastfeeding”. These findings have clear

implications for social work practice in Nigeria.