Study of knowledge and skills of anganwadi workers regarding breastfeeding and infant and young child feeding practices

Background: Field workers from the community are the key persons for spreading the knowledge about breastfeeding and infant and young child feeding practices among people. Antenatal counseling on breastfeeding and postnatal lactation support are likely to improve rates of exclusive breastfeeding. Objective: The present study was designed with the aim to examine the knowledge and skills of the anganwadi workers (AWWs), with respect to a few key elements of the services provided by them, in an urban city Patiala. Materials and Methods: An observational and cross-sectional study was carried out among the AWWs of urban Patiala in October-November 2012. 197 AWWs voluntarily participated. After taking oral consent, AWWs were interviewed with a pretested, semistructured, self-administered questionnaire developed in a local language. The answers were compared with the desired responses. The collected data were compiled in Microsoft Excel and analyzed with the help of SPSS version 20. Results: In the present study, more than 80% of all the AWWs had correct knowledge regarding initiation of breastfeeding, prelacteal feed, colostrum, exclusive breastfeeding, and complementary feeding. However, there were still some serious gaps such as in frequency of breastfeeding, continuation of breastfeeding after starting a complementary feed and during illness, and the concept of bottle feeding. Conclusion: The existing antenatal advice by AWWs on Breastfeeding and optimal infant and young child feeding is inadequate and needs to be strengthened.