Maternal Knowledge and Practice Regarding Children’s Nutrition and the Impact on Growth of their Children in Sixth of October City

Abstract

Proper nutrition during infancy and preschool age is essential for normal growth, resistance to infections, long-term adulthood health, and optimal neurologic and cognitive development. Unfortunately, only 35% of infants worldwide are exclusively breastfed during 1st 4 mo. of life, Weaning frequently begins too early or too late, and foods are often nutritionally insufficient and/or not safe. Measuring weight and height of a child measures the future of a country. Child health shapes the quality of future human productivity, helps population stabilization and promotes future economic growth. Malnutrition is a comprehensive term, which includes both under nutrition and over-nutrition. If child`s HAZ, WAZ, WHZ are below (-2SD) from the median of the reference population,