Vol. 11, Special Issue 9 (2022)

Author(s):
Ranjana Acharya and Dr. Kalpana Gupta

Abstract:
In a woman’s life, the nutritional requirement is maximum during lactation than in other periods of life because an infant gets its nutrition from its mother’s milk. Therefore, in addition to her body requirements, the mother must provide dietary supplements for her infant. The present study conducted on 100 lactating mothers of 0-6 lactating months, who were selected randomly from rural areas of Kandhamal district of Odisha aims to assess the dietary pattern of the lactation mothers and their nutritional status. Data was collected by a self-structured questionnaire consisting of general demographic information, anthropometric assessment, dietary and nutritional information of the mother. The daily nutritional intake of specific nutrients like energy, protein, fat, β carotene, calcium, and iron of each lactating mother was calculated using the food composition table given by NIN. The food consumption of the mothers was very low and this leads to weight loss and under nutrition in 55% of lactating mothers. When the mean nutrient intake of the aforementioned nutrients was compared with the RDA, 2010 (NIN) it showed a marginal difference. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed the common factors that significantly affect the nutritional status of the rural lactating mothers were family income, low socioeconomic status of food and less availability of food, and lack of knowledge related to the essence of balanced and nutritious food during lactation.