An exploratory study to assess the infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices among mothers attending pediatric OPD at selected health centers of Punjab.

Infant and young child feeding practices are part of broader child care practices, which is affected by household security and access to food, the availability of safe water and sanitation and access to quality health services. A non-experimental approach is used to assess infant and young child feeding practices among mothers attending pediatric OPD at selected health centres. A sample of 200 subject (mothers) will be selected by convenient sampling technique. Tool used for the present study was Socio-demographic data sheet, knowledge questionnaire to assess the knowledge level and infant and young child feeding assessment for assessing practices among mothers. The data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. In descriptive statistics, frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation were used. In inferential statistics, chi square test was used. The findings shows that 53% of subjects were having good knowledge regarding infant and young child feeding practice 47% of subjects were having average knowledge regarding infant and young child feeding practice. There was significant association between Infant and young child feeding practice with selected demographic variables of children such as weight of the child and initiation of breastfeeding, practice with last week dietary recall of Infant and young child feeding with vegetables.