Predictors and Barriers of Exclusive Breastfeeding: A Community Based Study in Some Rural and Urban Areas of Aligarh

“Breastfeeding is the first vaccination of a child”. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of age is a proven boon to mother and the child. There are multiple reasons for not following these feeding norms and they should be addresses appropriately. There are many hidden challenges which are unanswered such as absence of any action plan for promotion of breast feeding rates at local, state or regional level. This community based cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in the field practice areas of the Rural and Urban health training centres of the Department of Community Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. A sample of 700 children under two years of age was chosen for the study. It was observed that only 8.9% of the children had been or were being exclusively breastfed. A fall in exclusive breastfeeding rate was observed as the age of the child increased from 0 to 6 months .Insufficient milk was the most common reason about not exclusively breastfeeding their children. Exclusive breastfeeding had a positive relation with education and age of the mother (20-30 years) and a child of male sex, but no significant differences were found with respect to the religion of the child. The study shows that the feeding practices followed in the community are still influenced by the traditions, beliefs and old cultural practices. More stress should be laid on a continuous IEC and BCC activities.