INFANT-FEEDING PRACTICES, SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND DIARRHEAL DISEASE IN A TRADITIONAL AREA OF URBAN ILORIN, NIGERIA

A cross-sectional study involving 771 children under the age of one ye ar, was carried out in a traditional area of urban Ilorin, Nigeria, to determine how socio-economic conditions and feeding practices relate to diarrhoeal disease among infants. After adjustment has been made (t hrough logistic regression) for covariates, five factors had significa nt association with diarrhoeal disease. These are the age of the child , parity, mother's education, availability of household kitchen and th e feeding of semi-solid food to the infants. The lowest diarrhoeal rat e occurred in infants aged 0-3 months while the highest rate occurred among infants seven to nine months old (Odds Ratio=4.2). Children who were of the fifth or higher birth order had significantly higher risk of diarrhoea when compared with those who were of the first or second birth order (OR= 1.62; P < 0.05). Children of mothers with secondary e ducation had significantly higher risk of diarrhoea compared with chil dren of illiterates (OR=1.9; P < 0.05). Households that had no kitchen had significantly higher risk of infantile diarrhoea than households with kitchen facilities (P < 0.01). Finally, infants receiving semisol id food had higher risk of diarrhoea compared to those children not re ceiving semi-solid food CP < 0.05), Diarrhoeal disease awareness campa ign to educate mothers on the dangers of childhood diarrhoea and how t o prevent it, through proper hygiene, especially, food hygiene, is adv ocated.