The Effect of Exclusive Breast-Feeding Practices on Morbidity among Under-five Children in a Semi-Urban Community in Sokoto, North-Western Nigeria

Background: Breast feeding is an important component of child survival strategy. It protects against infections especially diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases. Objectives: To determine the rate of exclusive breast feeding and its effect on under-5 morbidity in Gwiwa community. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study carried out at PHC Gwiwa, in Gwiwa community, Wammakko LGA, Sokoto state, Nigeria between May and August 2021. One hundred and eighty-six Mothers with children aged 6 – 59months were interviewed using structured interviewer questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. Results: Seventy-three (39.2%) of the respondents were aged 15 – 24 years and majority (54.3%) are of low socio-economic class. Thirty-three (17.7%) of the children were exclusively breast fed for 6 months. There was significant difference in the rate of exclusive breast feeding among different socio-economic classes. One (3.0%) and 16 (10.5%) hospitalization were recorded among exclusively and non-exclusively breast-fed children respectively (p= 0.4). Seven (21.2%) and 8 (24.2%) of the exclusively breastfed children had diarrhoea and ARI respectively as compared to 113 (73.9%) and 118 (77.1%) with diarrhoea (p= 0.03) and ARI (p= 0.04) respectively among non-exclusively breastfed children. Conclusion: The incidence rate of exclusive breast feeding is low in our community and might have impacted negatively on under-5 morbidity in the community. Efforts should be geared towards improving exclusive breast-feeding campaign in our community. Key words: Exclusive, Breastfeeding, Childhood, Morbidity