The Role of Nutrition Interventions and Mothers Knowledge on Infant and Young Child Feeding: Mapping Study in Njombe and Geita Regions, Tanzania

Abstract

Children under the age of five are at risk of undernutrition particularly in developing countries. It was discovered that mothers' nutrition knowledge was one of the most influential factors in determining whether or not children under the age of five had an optimal nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to examine the roles of nutrition interventions and maternal knowledge regarding IYCF practices and child nutrition status in regions with high rates of stunting. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Tanzanian regions of Njombe and Geita from a community-based perspective and examining current and recently ended (within previous 3 months) nutrition interventions. A sample of 150 mothers with their children were selected purposefully to participate in the study.  Women and their children younger than five years old were chosen purposively to participate in the study. The Chi-square test (p 0.05) was used to compare IYCF practices, maternal knowledge with nutrition status, and differences between areas with few and many nutrition-related interventions.  According to the results of this study, mothers' IYCF practices (p = 0.014) and their children's nutritional status (p = 0.048) improved significantly when nutrition interventions were easily accessible and readily usable. P = 0.005 revealed that 90.5% of teenage mothers (15–20 years old) had inadequate nutrition knowledge. Approximately, 68 % [49.7-86.3] of stunted infants in Njombe district were male, and there were few interventions in place, whereas the Bukombe district had a stunted infant rate of 38.9 % Multicomponent nutrition interventions are essential to strengthen programmes that address poor maternal knowledge, improve IYCF practices and nutrition status in regions with high chronic malnutrition.