Evaluation educational needs of mothers reffered to health centers of Khoramabad about lactating and infant nutrition in 2004

The process of breast feeding increases mothers’ nutritional needs. Therfore mothers’ nutrition should be provided to supply both themselves and their babies nutritional needs. This is particulary important until the infant is exclusivly breast fed, because the quality of milk is depended on their diets. After this time, complementary feeding is another important factor for preventing malnutrition. The aim of this study was to determine educational needs of mothers who reffered to health centers of Khoramabad about lactating and infant nutrition in 2004. This is a cross-sectional study. The sample was 200 mothers who have a younger than 2-year old infant who reffered to health centers of Khoramabad. Sample were selected through random cluster method. The data was collected by a two- part questionnaire, the first part contains 8 demogrphic charecteristics and second part has 33 questions about nursing mother and infants nutrition. The questionaire was compeleted by interview. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. The majority of samples (63%) were 25-30 years old and 44% had high school certificate, 63.1% had one child baby's nutrition method in 26.8%was exclusivly breast feeding, 4.7% formula, 49.7% breast feeding and complementary feeding, 8.1% family food and 10.7% other methods. In generale the mothers educational needs was in 3.3% high, 47.3% moderate and 49.4% with in low. Most of mothers used their own milk along or with other feeding methods in their children's feeding and most of them needed high and moderate educational needs about own and their children's nutrition. Considering the high importance of nutrition in mother-child health, it is suggested the health provider nutritionalist, nursing and medical staff, employ more seriously new plans to instructe mothers in this regard, as the present training plans only emphesizes on the nutrtion by breast feeding and complementary feeding and ignore the quality of breast milk effect in breast fed infants health