LEARN Lao PDR - The dietary intake of lactating Women in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The period of mother’s lactation is a relatively brief and very special time with her newborn baby as well as a good memory in a women's life. In the Lao PDR it has been observed from various nutritional surveys that the nutritional status of lactating mothers and infants is not satisfactory, due to practicing certain food restrictions.

Method: A cross-sectional study was applied to 420 lactating mothers who attend the Child Well Clinics in three district hospitals of Vientiane Capital. The Stata Version 13 statistical package was used to generate descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean, median, standard deviation and standard errors. A univariate analysis was used to describe factors associated with food consumption patterns.

Results: The study found that 62.6% of family members made decisions about buying foods for family consumption. Family income and following the MCH guidebook are positively associated with the consumption of a variety of food groups (P-value 0.022).

Conclusion: Information on existing food consumption patterns, their associated socio-demographic and health service factors can be useful for public health efforts to improve lactating mothers’ nutrition and diet. Intervention may be more effective if they are targeted in specific socio-demographic subgroups such as focusing on low-income mothers.