title: Infant feeding--knowledge and attitudes in a rural area of Karnataka.
abstract: A study of the knowledge and attitude towards infant feeding was conducted in South India on a group of 300 mothers whose babies' ages from 3 days to 17 months. Most of the mothers opined that breast-feeding had to be initiated within 24 hours of birth. However, only 32% felt that breast milk should be the first feed, whereas 68% considered prelacteal feeds a necessity. 71% of the mothers considered 3 to 5 months to be the optimum duration of exclusive breast-feeding. 90% felt that cow's milk was an ideal supplement. 78.3% subscribed to the view that breast-feeding should continue beyond one year. A sizeable proportion expressed the need to discontinue breastfeeds during babies' or maternal illness, particularly diarrhoea. Our results will form the babies of the content and the target groups in our future health education programme.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Karnataka.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chandrashekar
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Chakladar
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005248:Feeding Methods; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D012424:Rural Population