Infant feeding practices in urban and rural southern Katanga communities in Democratic Republic of Congo

Introduction: The results of previous scientific studies made in China and Vietnam have shown a big difference in feeding practices of children living in rural areas and those living in urban areas suggesting the influence of economic and socio-cultural factors. The aim of the study is to compare feeding practices of children under the age of five years between urban and rural areas in southern Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Central Africa). Methods: This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study of 1630 mother infant pairs recruited from 250 randomly chosen households from each of 5 different villages near the town of Lubumbashi and two urban areas (Lubumbashi and Kampemba). Results: The proportions of mothers who initiate breastfeeding within one hour after birth in urban and rural areas were respectively 48.3% and 46.0% (ORa: 1.32; CI95%: 1.01-1.72). 44.2% of the mother in urban areas exclusively breastfed their children until the age of 6 months versus 14.5% in rural areas (p<0.001). The average age of the children when they stopped breastfeeding was 16.4 months in urban areas versus 17.9 months in rural areas (p<0.001). 91.3% of first foods given in urban areas were cereals (p<0.001) versus 86.8% in rural areas. Conclusion: The study showed that mothers living in rural areas breastfeed longer than those who live in urban areas. Moreover, our results show that mother in rural areas use infant formulas and introduce solid, semi-solid or soft food sooner and more often than women in urban areas.