Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area

Tamara H. Hussein; Melina Mgongo; Jacqueline G. Uriyo; Damian J. Damian; Babill Stray-Pedersen; Sia E. Msuya

doi:doi:10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24

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Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area

Tamara H. Hussein, Melina Mgongo, Jacqueline G. Uriyo, Damian J. Damian, Babill Stray-Pedersen, Sia E. Msuya

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 3, Issue 2)

Received: 9 February 2015 Accepted: 27 February 2015 Published: 10 March 2015

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Abstract

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is recommended the first six months after birth as one of cost effective interventions in saving children's lives. Objective: To determine the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and describe the common foods introduced to infants before 6months. Design: A prospective cohort study. Setting: Poor community of Moshi urban, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. Subjects: Women in their third trimester and were followed to 18 months after delivery. A questionnaire was used to collect information on maternal socio-demographics, delivery status and infant feeding practices at each visit. Maternal HIV status was checked at enrolment. Results: Out of 2231 women, with a live birth, 70% (1535) came back at least once after delivery and information on infant feeding were collected. 94% of the women were living below the poverty line. The prevalence of EBF at 1, 3 and up to 6 months was 48.8%, 22.0% and 0.2% respectively. Two percent of the infants were given semi-solids at 1 month, 35% at 3 months and 95% at 5 months. Water and cow’s milk were the most common liquids introduced to infants by one month, while porridge, cow’s milk and mtori were commonly introduced at 3 months. Conclusions: EBF up to 6 month is very rare in Kilimanjaro. There is an urgent need to strengthen community and health facility based EBF interventions so as to reach the 90% recommended coverage by the WHO. This will help in improving child survival and in attaining the Millennium Development Goal 4.

Published in	Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 3, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24
Page(s)	251-258
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Exclusive Breastfeeding, Breastfeeding, Poverty, Prevalence, Tanzania

References

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Tamara H. Hussein, Melina Mgongo, Jacqueline G. Uriyo, Damian J. Damian, Babill Stray-Pedersen, et al. (2015). Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area. Science Journal of Public Health, 3(2), 251-258. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24

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ACS Style

Tamara H. Hussein; Melina Mgongo; Jacqueline G. Uriyo; Damian J. Damian; Babill Stray-Pedersen, et al. Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area. Sci. J. Public Health 2015, 3(2), 251-258. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24

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AMA Style

Tamara H. Hussein, Melina Mgongo, Jacqueline G. Uriyo, Damian J. Damian, Babill Stray-Pedersen, et al. Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area. Sci J Public Health. 2015;3(2):251-258. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24

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@article{10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24,
  author = {Tamara H. Hussein and Melina Mgongo and Jacqueline G. Uriyo and Damian J. Damian and Babill Stray-Pedersen and Sia E. Msuya},
  title = {Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area},
  journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
  volume = {3},
  number = {2},
  pages = {251-258},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20150302.24},
  abstract = {Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is recommended the first six months after birth as one of cost effective interventions in saving children's lives. Objective: To determine the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and describe the common foods introduced to infants before 6months. Design: A prospective cohort study. Setting: Poor community of Moshi urban, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. Subjects: Women in their third trimester and were followed to 18 months after delivery. A questionnaire was used to collect information on maternal socio-demographics, delivery status and infant feeding practices at each visit. Maternal HIV status was checked at enrolment. Results: Out of 2231 women, with a live birth, 70% (1535) came back at least once after delivery and information on infant feeding were collected.  94% of the women were living below the poverty line. The prevalence of EBF at 1, 3 and up to 6 months was 48.8%, 22.0% and 0.2% respectively. Two percent of the infants were given semi-solids at 1 month, 35% at 3 months and 95% at 5 months. Water and cow’s milk were the most common liquids introduced to infants by one month, while porridge, cow’s milk and mtori were commonly introduced at 3 months. Conclusions: EBF up to 6 month is very rare in Kilimanjaro. There is an urgent need to strengthen community and health facility based EBF interventions so as to reach the 90% recommended coverage by the WHO. This will help in improving child survival and in attaining the Millennium Development Goal 4.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area
AU - Tamara H. Hussein
AU - Melina Mgongo
AU - Jacqueline G. Uriyo
AU - Damian J. Damian
AU - Babill Stray-Pedersen
AU - Sia E. Msuya
Y1 - 2015/03/10
PY - 2015
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24
DO - 10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24
T2 - Science Journal of Public Health
JF - Science Journal of Public Health
JO - Science Journal of Public Health
SP - 251
EP - 258
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2328-7950
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24
AB - Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is recommended the first six months after birth as one of cost effective interventions in saving children's lives. Objective: To determine the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and describe the common foods introduced to infants before 6months. Design: A prospective cohort study. Setting: Poor community of Moshi urban, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. Subjects: Women in their third trimester and were followed to 18 months after delivery. A questionnaire was used to collect information on maternal socio-demographics, delivery status and infant feeding practices at each visit. Maternal HIV status was checked at enrolment. Results: Out of 2231 women, with a live birth, 70% (1535) came back at least once after delivery and information on infant feeding were collected. 94% of the women were living below the poverty line. The prevalence of EBF at 1, 3 and up to 6 months was 48.8%, 22.0% and 0.2% respectively. Two percent of the infants were given semi-solids at 1 month, 35% at 3 months and 95% at 5 months. Water and cow’s milk were the most common liquids introduced to infants by one month, while porridge, cow’s milk and mtori were commonly introduced at 3 months. Conclusions: EBF up to 6 month is very rare in Kilimanjaro. There is an urgent need to strengthen community and health facility based EBF interventions so as to reach the 90% recommended coverage by the WHO. This will help in improving child survival and in attaining the Millennium Development Goal 4.
VL - 3
IS - 2
ER -

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Author Information

Tamara H. Hussein

Better Health for African Mother and Child, Moshi, Tanzania
Melina Mgongo

Better Health for African Mother and Child, Moshi, Tanzania
Jacqueline G. Uriyo

Better Health for African Mother and Child, Moshi, Tanzania
Damian J. Damian

Community Health Department, KCMC Hospital, Moshi, Tanzania
Babill Stray-Pedersen

Division of Women and Children, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet and University of Oslo Norway
Sia E. Msuya

Better Health for African Mother and Child, Moshi, Tanzania

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APA Style

Tamara H. Hussein, Melina Mgongo, Jacqueline G. Uriyo, Damian J. Damian, Babill Stray-Pedersen, et al. (2015). Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area. Science Journal of Public Health, 3(2), 251-258. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24

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Tamara H. Hussein; Melina Mgongo; Jacqueline G. Uriyo; Damian J. Damian; Babill Stray-Pedersen, et al. Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area. Sci. J. Public Health 2015, 3(2), 251-258. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24

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AMA Style

Tamara H. Hussein, Melina Mgongo, Jacqueline G. Uriyo, Damian J. Damian, Babill Stray-Pedersen, et al. Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area. Sci J Public Health. 2015;3(2):251-258. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24

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@article{10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24,
  author = {Tamara H. Hussein and Melina Mgongo and Jacqueline G. Uriyo and Damian J. Damian and Babill Stray-Pedersen and Sia E. Msuya},
  title = {Exclusive Breastfeeding up to Six Months is Very Rare in Tanzania: A Cohort Study of Infant Feeding Practices in Kilimanjaro Area},
  journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
  volume = {3},
  number = {2},
  pages = {251-258},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150302.24},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20150302.24},
  abstract = {Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is recommended the first six months after birth as one of cost effective interventions in saving children's lives. Objective: To determine the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and describe the common foods introduced to infants before 6months. Design: A prospective cohort study. Setting: Poor community of Moshi urban, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. Subjects: Women in their third trimester and were followed to 18 months after delivery. A questionnaire was used to collect information on maternal socio-demographics, delivery status and infant feeding practices at each visit. Maternal HIV status was checked at enrolment. Results: Out of 2231 women, with a live birth, 70% (1535) came back at least once after delivery and information on infant feeding were collected.  94% of the women were living below the poverty line. The prevalence of EBF at 1, 3 and up to 6 months was 48.8%, 22.0% and 0.2% respectively. Two percent of the infants were given semi-solids at 1 month, 35% at 3 months and 95% at 5 months. Water and cow’s milk were the most common liquids introduced to infants by one month, while porridge, cow’s milk and mtori were commonly introduced at 3 months. Conclusions: EBF up to 6 month is very rare in Kilimanjaro. There is an urgent need to strengthen community and health facility based EBF interventions so as to reach the 90% recommended coverage by the WHO. This will help in improving child survival and in attaining the Millennium Development Goal 4.},
 year = {2015}
}

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