KOREASCHOLAR

This study was executed for 300 mothers bringing up a child below 3 years in the area of Kangnung to assess the current weaning practice of infants. 24.6% of mother surveyed were breast-fed, 57.8% were formula-fed and 17.5% were mixed-fed. The rate of breast feeding was lower and the rate of bottle feeding was higher in infants whose mothers had more income or higher educational period or full-time job. Most of the respondents knew the significance of supplementary food. 41.4% of the subjects started weaning of their infants at 3-4 months, and 84.1% of them set on weaning in less than 7 months after babies were born. And 39.4% of the subjects finished weaning of their infants in less than one year. The infants of this study preferred the fruits and fishes to meats, vegetables and beans that served to them as supplementary food. Mothers showed deep interest in recipe of weaning food(48.5%), adequate quantity of weaning food(36.3%), information on commercial food for infants(32.2%), and sequence in which semi-solid food are introduced(31.9%). From these results, it is suggested that education program in primary health center for improvement of weaning practice of infants should be implemented reflecting needs of mothers.

• 김은경 | Kim, Eun-Kyung
• 이선희 | Lee, Sun-Hee
• 박계월 | Park, Kye-Wol
• 지경아 | Chi, Kyung-A