Nutritional Assessment of Exclusively Breastfed and Non-Exclusively Breastfed Infants Aged (0 – 6 Months) at Mother of Christ Specialist Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria

Background: The assessment of Nutritional status of infants, aged 0-6 Months (Exclusively breastfed and non- exclusively breastfed) was conducted at Mother of Christ Specialist Hospital, Ogui, Enugu State, Nigeria. The aim of the survey was to find out if mothers truly practice exclusive breastfeeding, the ratio of mothers who practice exclusive breastfeeding to those who do not, to compare the nutritional status of infants who were breastfed exclusively with those who were not and to find out factors that discouraged mothers from practicing exclusive breastfeeding. Methodology: Structured questionnaires were validated by Dietitians and administered. The questionnaires were administered to two hundred mothers who were randomly selected. Anthropometric measurements (weight, length, head circumference and chest circumference) of babies were taken and recorded. The data collected were analyzed using statistical methods, which included mean, chi square, t-test, z-score, correlations, frequencies and percentages. Result: The study, revealed that (194) mothers breastfed their babies generally while (6) did not. One hundred and Sixty four (82%) practiced exclusive breastfeeding and 15% (30) did not breastfeed their babies exclusively. There was significant relationship between the levels of mothers' education and nutritional status of the infants. The mean age of the males exclusively breastfed was (9.86) while that of the females was (9.74) and the mean length was (61.96) and (60.92) receptively. The result of the anthropometric measurements showed that most of the parameters were better in exclusively breastfeed than in non-exclusively breastfeed infants though in some of the parameters, they were similar or better. The result of Z- scores for weight of male infants exclusively breastfed and non-exclusively breastfed were the same, while the length of the exclusively breastfed and non-exclusively breastfed were 30% and 26% respectively. Wrong concept of exclusive breastfeeding and its wrong application were found to be the major factors affecting nutritional status of infants.