Factors influencing feeding practices of extreme poor infants and young children in families of working mothers in Dhaka slums: A qualitative study

TY - JOUR

T1 - Factors influencing feeding practices of extreme poor infants and young children in families of working mothers in Dhaka slums: A qualitative study

AU - Kabir, Ashraful

AU - Maitrot, Mathilde

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Kabir, Maitrot.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Copyright: Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2017/2/16

Y1 - 2017/2/16

N2 - BackgroundNutritional status differs between infants and young children living in slum and non-slum conditions—infants and young children living in City Corporation slums are likely to have worse nutritional status compared to those from non-slums. Furthermore, families in slums tend to engage female labor in cash-earning activities as a survival strategy; hence, a higher percentage of mothers stay at work. However, little is known about feeding practices for infants and young children in families with working mothers in slums. This study aims to understand the factors that determine feeding practices for infants and young children living in families with working mothers in Dhaka slums.MethodsThis study adopted a qualitative approach. Sixteen In-depth Interviews, five Key Informant Interviews, and Focused Group Discussions were conducted with family members, community leaders, and program staff. Method triangulation and thematic analyses were conducted.ResultsFeeding practices for infants and young children in families with working mothers are broadly determined by mothers’ occupation, basis civic facilities, and limited family buying capacity. Although mothers have good nutritional knowledge, they negotiate between work and feeding their infants and young children. Household composition, access to cooking facilities, and poverty level were also found to be significant determining factors.ConclusionThe results suggest a trade-off between mothers’ work and childcare. The absence of alternative care support in homes and/or work places along with societal factors outweighs full benefits of project interventions. Improving alternative childcare support could reduce the burden of feeding practice experienced by working mothers and may improve nutritional outcomes.

AB - BackgroundNutritional status differs between infants and young children living in slum and non-slum conditions—infants and young children living in City Corporation slums are likely to have worse nutritional status compared to those from non-slums. Furthermore, families in slums tend to engage female labor in cash-earning activities as a survival strategy; hence, a higher percentage of mothers stay at work. However, little is known about feeding practices for infants and young children in families with working mothers in slums. This study aims to understand the factors that determine feeding practices for infants and young children living in families with working mothers in Dhaka slums.MethodsThis study adopted a qualitative approach. Sixteen In-depth Interviews, five Key Informant Interviews, and Focused Group Discussions were conducted with family members, community leaders, and program staff. Method triangulation and thematic analyses were conducted.ResultsFeeding practices for infants and young children in families with working mothers are broadly determined by mothers’ occupation, basis civic facilities, and limited family buying capacity. Although mothers have good nutritional knowledge, they negotiate between work and feeding their infants and young children. Household composition, access to cooking facilities, and poverty level were also found to be significant determining factors.ConclusionThe results suggest a trade-off between mothers’ work and childcare. The absence of alternative care support in homes and/or work places along with societal factors outweighs full benefits of project interventions. Improving alternative childcare support could reduce the burden of feeding practice experienced by working mothers and may improve nutritional outcomes.

KW - Adult

KW - Bangladesh/epidemiology

KW - Breast Feeding/psychology

KW - Child

KW - Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena

KW - Feeding Behavior/physiology

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Infant

KW - Infant Care

KW - Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena

KW - Mothers/education

KW - Nutritional Status

KW - Poverty Areas

KW - Qualitative Research

KW - Urban Population

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013059525&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0172119

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0172119

M3 - Article

C2 - 28207894

SN - 1932-6203

VL - 12

JO - PLoS ONE

JF - PLoS ONE

IS - 2

M1 - e0172119

ER -