Shafya Salim, Samia Kalsoom, Ayesha Humayun.
Weaning Practices and Perceptions of Mothers Residing in Urban Slums of Lahore, Pakistan: A Focus Group Design.
Ann King Edward Med Uni Jan ;22(4):313-20.

Objectives: Current study aimed to explore the per-ceptions and practices about weaning among mothers of children from 6 months to 2 years of age. Method: An exploratory qualitative research using methodology of focus group discussions (FGD) was conducted on mothers of 6 months to 2 years of age children in urban slums of Lahore. Perceptions and practices of mothers regarding weaning foods were explored through 3 FGDs (n = 30) conducted in the Government dispensaries in 3 conveniently selected slum areas of Lahore. FGDs were audio-taped and noted followed by transcription, coding and thematic analysis. Results: Themes from FGD showed that mothers‟ perceptions were poor about the initiation time of wea-ning, types, quality, frequency and amount of weaning foods. Practice of initiation of weaning varied from 3rd month to 12th months. Despite of the economic concerns almost all mothers preferred instantly pre-pared foods available in the market. Commonly used weaning foods included processed, dried, packed, in-stant snacks, breads, cereals, chips and noodles avai-lable in market. All mothers were not interested in pre-paring weaning foods at home. Most of the mothers experienced diarrhea in their infants quite frequently. Conclusion: Perceptions and practices of weaning in mothers are both poor and inadequate regarding time of initiation of weaning, age-appropriate quantity, qua-lity and frequency of weaning. Measures should be taken to improve their perceptions and practices bec-ause improper weaning determines nutritional status of child in future years of development.

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