Em. Einterz et Me. Bates, EARLY-CHILDHOOD FEEDING PRACTICES IN NORTHERN CAMEROON, Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 88(5), 1994, pp. 575-576
Citations number
6
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Tropical Medicine
Following the identification of differences in disease patterns among
infants from households of different social groups (Moslem and non-Mos
lem) in northern Cameroon, 534 mothers and their children 0-23 months
old were studied to determine early childhood feeding practices in the
2 groups. Several significant differences were revealed. Compared wit
h non-Moslem infants, Moslems were more likely to be given animal milk
instead of breast milk before the age of 3 d. On average, miller pap
was introduced to Moslem babies between their 1st and 2nd months and t
o non-Moslem babies between their 3rd and 4th months. Moslem mothers m
ore commonly prepared pap with oil or cow butter as an ingredient. Mos
lem mothers also planned to wean their children at an earlier age than
non-Moslems and were less likely to report boiling their children's d
rinking water. Moslem mothers of infants less than 5 months old were l
ikely to believe their breast milk was insufficient. The implications
of these findings on the higher incidence of infant diarrhoea, stuntin
g and early childhood death among Moslems are discussed.