Abstract
Background: Breastfeeding patterns influence the beneficial effects on the physical growth and development of children. Breastfeeding provides optimal nutrition and immunity and reduces the incidents of several insidious diseases in the future. However, breastfeeding practices vary with country-specific and inter-country factors, especially in rural areas. Hence, the current study aimed to find breastfeeding practices among mothers in different rural population of Andhra Pradesh.

Aim and Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate breastfeeding practices among mothers in different rural population of Andhra Pradesh.

Materials and Methods: A community-based observational study was carried out in the Rural Health Training Centre of Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. The study was carried out on 395 mothers with children aged between 0 and 24 months. The pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was executed and collected demographic, breastfeeding patterns, and anthropometric variables from all participants.

Results: The children aged between 0 and 24 months were 395 children, 199 (50.4%) were males, and 196 (51.4%) were females. The maximum was 12–24 months 230 (58.2%), whereas 62% of mothers were aged between 20 and 24 years. Among them, 148 (37.5%) were illiterate and 126 (31.9%) were literate and 370 (93.7%) were homemakers. About 99% of children were breastfed, of which 19.89% were exclusively breastfed and 70.1% of mothers started giving complementary feeding earlier. The prevalence of underweight is 24.8%, whereas stunting is 31.9%. There is significant association was found between good breastfeeding with better nutritional status.

Conclusion: The current study reveals that breastfeeding patterns have an immense effect on the nutritional status of children. Breastfeeding practices are not similar in rural and urban areas. The education of breastfeeding improves the quality of life for children in rural areas.

Key words: Breastfeeding; Exclusive Breastfeeding; Colostrum; Rural Health