International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | February 2017 | Vol 4 | Issue 2 Page 281 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Srikanth L et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2017 Feb;4(2):281-285 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Review Article Beliefs and practices of newborn feeding in tribal areas of India: a decennary review Latha Srikanth 1 , Kamala Subbiah 2 , Srikanth Srinivasan 3 * INTRODUCTION According to Census 2011, the tribal population of India is 10.43 crores, constituting 8.6% of the total population. 1 Their socio-cultural, economic and educational backgrounds differ from the urban and rural communities and between the States. Factors such as ignorance, illiteracy, lack of accessibility and inadequate utilization of health services contribute to poor health status of the tribes. 1,2 A major brunt of these factors is observed among the mothers and children in terms of morbidity and mortality. 2 To date, compared to national statistics, neonatal and infant mortality rates are high in tribal areas. 1 Each tribe has its own exclusive practices in child rearing. 3 These practices are deeply rooted in the day to day life of tribes and more difficult to change. The beliefs and practices related to breastfeeding during the newborn period (birth to 28 days of life) have a critical impact on the survival of infants. Baseline information about traditional newborn feeding practices of tribal communities is of paramount importance in planning culturally sensitive child health programs. 3 Such ABSTRACT Background: Newborn feeding among tribes in India is influenced by traditional beliefs and practices. Each tribal community has its own unique feeding practices which have considerable impact on the health and survival of infants. Information about these practices is vital in planning effective child health services. Methods: A review of published articles in Google Scholar and Pubmed databases during the period 2006 to 2016 was carried out to retrieve information on newborn feeding practices in tribal areas in various parts of India. Prelacteal feeding, feeding of colostrums and time of initiation of breastfeeding were considered for analysis. Results: Thirteen full text studies were reviewed. It was observed that the newborns had been fed with prelacteal feeds such as plain water, sugar or salt solution, honey, diluted cow’s milk and milk mixed with jaggery. The beliefs were that these feeds help to resist hunger, clean the tongue and stimulate suckling. The common beliefs for delayed initiation of breastfeeding were that it was harmful or not ready to be fed for 3 days. The reasons for discarding colostrums were that it was impure, causes indigestion or diarrhea. These harmful practices were observed to be prevalent among most of the tribes in different geographic locations of India. Conclusions: There is a need to explore the area specific tribal cultural feeding beliefs and practices. This could enhance the knowledge of healthcare providers to promote proper newborn rearing. Keywords: Breast feeding, Colostrums, Infant feeding, Prelacteal feed, Tribes 1 Department of Pediatric Nursing, Indirani College of Nursing, Puducherry, India 2 Department of Pediatric Nursing, Rani Meyyammai College of Nursing, Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, India 3 Department of Community Medicine, Sri Venkateshwaraa Medical College Hospital & Research Centre, Puducherry, India Received: 09 December 2016 Accepted: 07 January 2017 *Correspondence: Dr. Srikanth Srinivasan, E-mail: srikanthlatha2003@yahoo.co.in Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20170250