Implications of exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices on gastrointestinal health and antibiotic exposure: A questionnaire-based assessment

Background: Infancy is a very crucial phase of comprehensive development. Optimum nutrition has the potential to boost immunity and decrease disease susceptibility. Our hypothesis is that exclusive breastfeeding and homebased complementary feeding improves gastrointestinal health and reduces antibiotic exposure in infants, in comparison to partial breast feeding and mixed complementary feeding. Very few studies have explored this topic in a rural Indian setting. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted with a sample size of 200 mothers of 6–12 months old healthy infants in rural areas of Karnataka, India. Data collection was done by in-depth interview exclusivity of Breast Feeding (Exclusive-EBF, Formula-FF and Partial -PBF), type of Complementary Feeding (Homebased-HCF, Commercial-CCF, Mixed-MCF) followed, episodes of vomiting, diarrhoea and antibiotic exposure. Pearson's chi-square tests were performed using SPSS version 16 for statistical analysis. Results: EBF was observed in 50.5% (101) of infants, PBF in 49% (98) and FF in 0.5% (1). On EBF for 6 months, 3% (3) of infants had vomiting and 1% (1) had diarrhoea, whereas on PBF, 5.2% (5) and 3% (3) (p > 0.05) of infants had vomiting and diarrhoea, respectively. None of the infants on HCF suffered from diarrhoea or vomiting. While 5.4% (9) and 2.4% (4) of infants on MCF had vomiting and diarrhoea respectively (p > 0.05). Antibiotic exposure was reported in 30.3% (10) of HCF and 54.8% (90) of MCF infants (p > 0.05) respectively. Conclusion: A population-level awareness regarding EBF and HCF could lead to decreased incidences of gastrointestinal infections.