Infant feeding in Saudi Arabia: mothers' attitudes and practices.
We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey of 4872 mothers (mostly Saudi) to study infant feeding patterns. Information was collected about their feeding practices with their youngest child using pre-tested questionnaires. About four-fifths of the mothers had received health education about breastfeeding, most often from medical staff; younger mothers tended to be better informed. Approximately 92% fed colostrum to the newborn, but 76.1% had introduced bottle-feeding by 3 months (48.3% cited insufficient milk as the reason for introducing the bottle). This was significantly related to nationality and education level. Mixed feeding (breastfeeding and bottle-feeding) was popular. Solid foods tended to be introduced late and this was significantly related to nationality, age and education level.
Al-Jassir
M S
MS
Department of Nutrition, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. mohnut@yahoo.com
El-Bashir
B M
BM
Moizuddin
S K
SK
Abu-Nayan
A A R
AA
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003126:Colostrum; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology; D008423:Maternal Age; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009042:Motivation; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014886:Weaning