Factors influencing nutritional practices among mothers in Dakar, Senegal

Background: Maternal undernutrition is a leading cause of maternal mortality. Furthermore, health statuses and habits of mothers influence health statuses of newborns as well as healthy habits and mortality of children. The Senegal government is aware of the severity of these issues and has devised a national policy goal of reducing maternal, infant, and adolescent mortality rates by the end of 2018. This study aimed to identify nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and practices of lactating women in Senegal, and determine factors related to nutritional practices to obtain basic data for developing a maternal and child nutrition project. Method: This study used a mixed–method approach, collecting data via structured questionnaires administered to lactating women in Senegal and semistructured interviews with seven stake–holders. Questions for stuctured questionnaires were about nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and practices. For the quantitative analysis of the structured questionnaires, data from 171 participants analyzed using independent t-tests, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression analysis. Interview data were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. The questions for the interviews concerned maternal and child nutritional status, causes of undernutrition, and restrictions. Results: Factors significantly related to healthy nutritional practices(explaining 27.1% of variance) included having a household (B = 1.03, p = .015) and a mother (B = 0.96, p = .017) with an above primary school education, and being in the 5th quintile of income level (B = 1.24, p = .014). The interviews with seven stakeholders revealed obstructive factors of nutritional management were insufficient nutritional programs within health centers, incomplete national policy on nutrition, lack of general interest in undernutrition-related topics, inadequate economic environment, and the absence of partnerships to produce sustainable solutions. Conclusion: Education and income levels, rather than knowledge and attitudes, had a strong relationship with healthy nutritional practices. Therefore, economic factors and educational background must be considered to succeed in Senegalese nutrition projects.