ArticlePublic health nutrition2021
Maternal perspectives on infant feeding practices in Soweto, South Africa.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Determinants of early interruption of exclusive breastfeeding: a qualitative meta-synthesis.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Parental considerations during complementary feeding in higher income countries: a systematic review of qualitative evidence.Public health nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Building knowledge, optimising physical and mental health and setting up healthier life trajectories in South African women (BMJ open · 2022Trial
- An estimation of the effect of finding nurses helpful on early breastfeeding exclusivity mediated via breastfeeding self-efficacy, using a counterfactual approach and G-computation.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Examining maternal health literacy as a mediator of the relationship between social vulnerability and caregiving practices for improving infant development.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Perceptions of hospital feeding practices among mothers of infants with severe pneumonia in Malawi: a qualitative descriptive study.BMJ open · 2025Observational
- Health first, convenience second: Caregiver perspectives of commercially produced complementary foods in five Southeast Asian capital cities.Maternal & child nutrition · 2023Article
- High but decreasing prevalence of overweight in preschool children: encouragement for further action.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Article
- Financial and Food Insecurity are Primary Challenges to Breastfeeding for Women Living with HIV in Western Kenya: A Longitudinal Qualitative Investigation.AIDS and behavior · 2023Article
- Article
- Beliefs and Norms Influencing Initiation and Sustenance of Exclusive Breastfeeding: Experiences of Mothers in Primary Health Care Facilities in Ermelo, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Evidence of Concurrent Stunting and Obesity among Children under 2 Years from Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Backgrounds in the Era of the Integrated Nutrition Programme in South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Evidence-based strategies needed to combat malnutrition in Sub-Saharan countries facing different stages of nutrition transition.Public health nutrition · 2021Article
- The male breadwinner nuclear family is not the 'traditional' human family, and promotion of this myth may have adverse health consequences.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo (i) describe the infant feeding practices of South African women living in Soweto and (ii) understand from the mothers' perspective what influences feeding practices.
designSemi-structured focus group discussions (FGD) and in-depth interviews (IDI) were conducted, and data were analysed using thematic analysis.
settingSoweto, South Africa.
participantsNineteen mothers were stratified into three FGD according to their baby's age as follows: 0-6-month-olds, 7-14-month-olds and 15-24-month-olds. Four mothers from each FGD then attended an IDI.
resultsAlthough mothers understood that breast-feeding was beneficial, they reported short durations of exclusive breast-feeding. The diversity and quality of weaning foods were low, and 'junk' food items were commonly given. Infants were fed using bottles or spoons and feeding commonly occurred separately to family meal times. Feeding practices were influenced by mothers' beliefs that what babies eat is important for their health and that an unwillingness to eat is a sign of ill health. As such, mothers often force-fed their babies. In addition, mothers believed that feeding solid food to babies before 6 months of age was necessary. Family matriarchs were highly influential to mothers' feeding practices; however, their advice often contradicted that of health professionals.
conclusionsIn South Africa, interventions aimed at establishing healthier appetites and eating behaviours in early life should focus on: (i) fostering maternal self-efficacy around exclusive breast-feeding; (ii) challenging mixed feeding practices and encouraging more responsive feeding approaches and (iii) engaging family members to promote supportive household and community structures around infant feeding.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.