Health and Nutritional Status of Certain Lactating Mothers of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Abstract

Diet is the vital part to survive, and balanced diet is the key to better and healthy living. Our daily needs of the body depend upon food to intake for better and proper functioning of vital organs and all organs. These include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. The amount required for living is much lowers then required for the nourishing an offspring. Lactation is an astonishing procedure in which the mother's body makes a secretion that has no immediate advantage to them but may completely support the baby. It was descriptive hospital-based study conducted among lactating mothers visiting Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur Pakistan. Sample size comprised of 200 lactating mothers. The Chi-square statistical test was used to analyze the difference between the groups by SPSS of latest version. The results revealed that groups of Body mass index (BMI), age groups, breast feeding status, working status, health status, family income, family member, mode of delivery, infant age status, parity, energy intake, protein intake, fat intake and carbohydrate intake had statistically significant differences while the educational status had no significant differences. In this study dietary intake pattern of lactating mother was normal because mostly mothers were educated, they have good knowledge of balanced diet