IMPACT OF MOTHERS EDUCATION ON INFANT-FEEDING PATTERN AND WEANING PRACTICES IN KUWAIT

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of mothers' education on infant feeding pattern and weaning practices in Kuwait. A multistage stratified sample of 2994 mothers of children less than 3 years of age was taken to represent all Kuwaiti districts. Each mother was privately interviewed to collect data on infant feeding pattern, duration of breast feeding, mode and types of foods used for weaning. Mothers were questioned about their level of education. The results revealed that 60.6% of the infants were breast fed, 13.6% were bottle fed and 25.8% received mixed feeding. Breast feeding was more popular among illiterate (72.4%) than educated mothers (56.9%). The mean duration of breast feeding was 9.9 months among illiterate mothers and decreased to 4.2 months among mothers with university education. On the other hand, infants of illiterate mothers were weaned suddenly (49.0%) mostly because of the occurrence of a new pregnancy (27.1%) or reaching weaning age (25.3%). Educated mothers preferred gradual weaning (53.9%) mostly because of insufficient milk (34.0%) or infant refusal (13.1%). Infant formula and home made foods were commonly used as weaning foods. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.