Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-3208 (Paper) ISSN 2225-093X (Online) Vol.4, No.10, 2014 130 Infant Feeding Practices Among Mothers and Their Infants Attending Maternal And Child Health In Enugu, Nigeria. Anoshirike C. O. 1 Ejeogo C. P. 2 Nwosu O.I. C 2 , Maduforo A.N 3 and Nnoka Kingsley O. 4 1. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Imo State University Owerri. PMB 2000 Nigeria 2. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Ituku/Ozalla Enugu. 3. PHCN Staff Clinic No.1 Buzi Close Off Amazon Street Maitama Abuja FCT Nigeria 4. The Federal Polytechnic, Ede Osun State Nigeria E-mail: cyrilano4real@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Inappropriate feeding of infants has long been observed in our society and it is one of the global problems responsible for about one-third of the cases of malnutrition world wide. The study assessed the Infant feeding Practices among mothers and their infants attending Maternal and child health in Enugu, Nigeria. Samples of 410 infants (0-12 months) and mother pair, were randomly selected from these hospitals: Institute of Child Health University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Poly Clinic Asata, Christ Specialist Hospital Ogui and ESUT Teaching Hospital (Parklane) all in Enugu State of Nigeria. These four hospitals were purposefully selected because of their involvement in maternal and child health. Information on infant feeding practices, demographic data, socio-economic data, were obtained from the mothers with a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The data obtained were analyzed with the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16 to percentages, frequences and reprensented in a descriptive statistic in tables and charts. Results showed that most (43%) mothers were within the age of 26–30 years, 92.2% were married, 41% had secondary education, 45.1% were civil servants, 36.8% earned a monthly salary of less than ₦10,000 per month. Majority (97.5%) of the infants were Breastfed, 53% initiated breastfeeding within one hour after birth, 65.3% breastfed on-demand, 62.2% of the infants were exclusive breastfed, only 34.5% were breastfed exclusively for a duration of 5–6 months, 38.8% of mothers practiced prelacteal feeding on their infants, 44% were fed on breastmilk substitute, 72.4% were fed on complementary food, 48.3% initiate complementary feeding at the age of 5 to 6 months, 70% were fed on Pap (Akamu, Ogi) as a complementary food. This study depicted high prevalence of inapropriate infant feeding practices among mothers despite all the nutrition education and promotion of optimal breastfeeding and adequate complementary feeding practices in our maternal and child care institute. Key Word: Infant, Breastfeeding, Exclusive breastfeeding, Complementary Feeding. INTRODUCTION Poor feeding practices during the first two years of life have both immediate and long-term consequences. It is estimated that inappropriate feeding of children is responsible for about one-third of the cases of malnutrition world wide (Engle et al., 1997). However Infant feeding is far from simple operation, in that the methods or food use must conform to a variety of criteria which change as the infant develops and which may be modified to suit the peculiar needs of the child (Madukwe & Edeh, 2012). Inappropriate feeding practices and consequences are major obstacles to sustainable socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. Rapid social and economic change only intensifies the difficulties that families face in properly feeding and caring for their children. Expanding urbanization results in more families that depend on informal or intermittent employment with uncertain incomes and few or no maternity benefits. Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants, it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers. As a global public recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health (World Health Organization, 2003). Although breastfeeding is widely accepted in Nigeria, exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) has been reportedly low particular in the rural areas, due to ignorance, cultural belief and doubts about the ability of breast milk alone to satisfy the nutritional and hydration needs of the infants in hot tropical environments. Reports show that only about 35% of infants worldwide are exclusively breastfed during the first 4 months of life (WHO, 2003). By 12 months, the proportion of children exclusively breastfed is higher in Uganda than in Nigeria. Ugandan children less than six (6) months of age, approximatey 57% are exclusively breastfed compared to approximately 1% of Nigerian