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Constraints on weaning: evidence from Ethiopia and Sudan

Document type:	Article
Location:	Ethiopia, Sudan
Topic:	Complementary feeding
Author:	Almedon AM, De Waal A. J of Biosoc Sci
Date published:	January 1990

In emergencies can get a 'refugee pattern' of weaning that is different from the normal 'infant-centred' or 'mother-centred' pattern.

Full paper not available on this library. Summary of paper http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1999/WHO_NHD_99.5.pdf page 14, reference ID 4:

Two sets of data on infant weaning processes are presented following field research in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and among a refugee population of Eritreans in Sudan. The study in Addis Ababa was undertaken among sections of the community who were poor but had a stable nutrition situation. Factors constraining weaning, which includes both the introduction of supplementary foods and the termination of breastfeeding, were identified. The two processes of weaning were the outcome of factors in the interaction between mother and infant. 'Infant-centred' factors (infant's appetite linked with the availability of appropriate weaning foods, emergence of primary teeth) were more important at the start of weaning, while 'mother-centred' factors (new pregnancy, maternal ill-health, breast-milk insufficiency) were more important as weaning was completed. The refugee population had in normal times a similar weaning regime, but in the unstable conditions of flight and life in a refugee camp the process had been significantly altered. Because of a drastic reduction in the availability of weaning foods, a 'refugee pattern' of weaning was found. This included the introduction of inadequate supplementary foods at a 'normal' age, extended breastfeeding, and on occasions the reversal from mixed feeding to exclusive breastfeeding. Investigation of the external factors leading to altered weaning processes elaborates and confirms the model - i.e. the influence on both processes of weaning - derived from the Addis Ababa study.

Almedon AM, de Waal A. Constraints on weaning: evidence from Ethiopia and Sudan. Journal of Biosocial Science, 1990, 22:489-500.

This resource appears in: Research

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