Feeding pattern, nutritional status and common diseases of under two years children attending at outpatient department of a tertiary level hospital

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the feeding pattern, nutritional condition, and prevalence of common diseases among children aged 0 to 24 months who come to take health services in outpatient department (OPD) of a tertiary hospital in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. The sample size was 467 which was selected purposively. Regarding the feeding pattern, our findings indicate that 54.8% of the women exclusively breastfed their children, 68.5% continued breastfeeding until the child reached the age of two, 52.7% weaned their children appropriately, and 57.4% continued to provide appropriate complementary feeding to their child's diet. Our study demonstrated that 28.3% of the participants had mild underweight, 26.1% had moderate underweight, and 5.1% had severe underweight in terms of their nutritional condition. On the other hand, 34.9% of the participants reported experiencing mild wasting, while 12.4% reported moderate wasting, and 4.5% reported severe wasting. It was revealed that 36.2% had mild stunting, 9.0% had moderate stunting and 4.1% had severe stunting. Regarding common diseases, 61.2% of individuals experienced symptoms of cough and cold, 21.2% were diagnosed with pneumonia, 12.2% suffered from diarrhoea, 4.3% had fever, and 1.1% were affected by other diseases. We found statistically significant relationship between occurrence of illness and feeding pattern (Exclusive breast feeding, breast feeding up to 2 years of age, proper weaning practice and appropriate complementary feeding). We also found statistically significant relationship between the occurrence of common diseases and nutritional status (Underweight, wasting and stunting). The observation was that, the practice of complementary feeding was not up to the satisfactory level. Maximum parents practiced inappropriate complementary feeding in which most of the cases did not include protein, fiber and minerals. The rate of severe malnutrition reduced but some extent of under nutrition had been observed. Thus inappropriate feeding practice and under nutrition affect the occurrence of common illness (ARI- Cough & Cold, Pneumonia, Diarrhoea and Fever) which is the most important cause of death in children under two years old. The goal of our study is to reduce childhood mortality and morbidity. However, this study optimizes the coverage of different intervention like promote nutritional status and educate parent for appropriate feeding practice to continue for lessening the prevalence of childhood illness.