Breastfeeding Practices in Tribal and Caste Population of West Bengal: A Comparative Study
DOI
Access Status
This content is available to Open Access.
To download content simply use the links provided under the Files section.
More information about licence and terms of use for this content is available in the Rights section.
Type
Article
Date
2016
Journal Title
North Bengal Anthropologist
Journal Editor
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of North Bengal
Statistics
Total views and downloads
Views
16Downloads
11Citation
Mitra, S., & Ray, S. (2016). Breastfeeding Practices in Tribal and Caste Population of West Bengal: A Comparative Study. North Bengal Anthropologist, 4, 197–207. https://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/5315
Authors
Mitra, Shreyosi
Ray, Subha
Advisor
Editor
Abstract
Breastfeeding has typically been studied as a discrete behaviour predicted by biological
and social-cultural factors. The objectives of this study were to investigate into the pattern of and
understand the knowledge and attitude of breastfeeding practices among the lactating mothers
belonging to Bengali Hindu caste (BHC) and tribal groups. A total number of 167 lactating mothers
were selected from Bengali Hindu caste population residing in the rural (100) and urban(40)
areas of South and North 24 Parganas districts and from the tribal groups residing in rural areas
(27) of Purulia district West Bengal. The selection of the study areas and of the participants was
done on the basis of operational convenience. Data types include the time of initiation and duration
of breastfeeding, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding, feeding colostrums and the knowledge
and attitude of the mothers towards breastfeeding. Data on socio-economic information of
the participants were taken as additional variable. Data were collected using semi-structured
questionnaire. Trend in the results indicate that the practice of exclusive breastfeeding was lower
in the Bengali Hindu caste population compared to the tribal population; feeding of colostrums is
very common to the tribal mothers but not for their Bengali Hindu caste counterparts. Although
the participants from both tribal and Bengali Hindu caste population were aware about the beneficial
effect of breastfeeding, yet their attitude towards this behaviour varied widely.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Accession No
Call No
Book Title
Edition
Volume
ISBN No
Volume Number
4
Issue Number
ISSN No
2320-8376
eISSN No
Pages
Pages
197 - 207