Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING PRACTICES AMONG NURSING MOTHERS IN KOGI STATE, NIGERA

Gloria Ojonoka Dangana- Onuche & Torungwa Justin Damsa

Abstract

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is a nutrition of specific intervention that is crucial to the growth and development of a young child and contributes to the attainment of sustainable development goal. International literature suggests that although knowledge of the guidelines is high, only a minority of parents breastfeed exclusively until 6 months. thus, this descriptive study sought to examine socio-economic determinant of EBF in Kogi State, Nigeria and was anchored on the health Belief Model. A total number of 407 nursing mothers who attend children unit of the hospitals in the study setting were purposively selected and sampled for the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 24. The study found that majority (97.6%) of the respondents were aware of exclusive breastfeedingas recommended by WHO and their major sources of information were radio jingles, television, social media, and through family and friends. However, (33.2%) of EBF practice was found. The study further revealed that, mother's educational attainment, employment status, income, occupation and lack of work support system were determinants of EBF. The study concludes that the low rate of breastfeeding exclusively was due to influence of maternal education, level of income, occupation and lack of adequate work support policies for breastfeeding mothers, The study recommends among others ,a more legal framework for effective implementation of the National Breastfeeding Policy for women in independent labour relations.

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