Household Children Feeding Practices and Its Implications for Health: A Qualitative Study in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana.

Samuel Asiedu Owusu, University of Cape Coast

Children under five years are usually prone to growth faltering, morbidity, and mortality. Some studies have indicated that child growth and development hinges on the feeding practices of their caregivers. However, as work practices and living arrangements change rapidly in urban Ghana, mothers are faced with decisions to balance childcare with their careers leading to some children growing up in the care of dual or multiple household caregivers. Although this caring arrangement is not new in the country, a comparative assessment of the caregiver’s feeding practices and its effects on children’s health outcomes have not been widely studied, hence the conduct of this study to bridge the knowledge gap. Using qualitative data from the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana, it was identified that divergent hunger cues were practiced by the caregivers. Some lapses were also identified in non-maternal caregiver’s feeding practices relative to what was being done by the mothers.