Indonesia Conference Directory

Background: The most stunting cases occur in developing countries. Nutrition during first 1000 days of infants life becoming the most important stunting influencing factor. Exclusive breastfeeding may prevent stunting however, the supplemental food is common provided for the infants before six months of infants age in Indonesia. Purpose: This study was aimed to explore the early supplemental food introduction among Indonesian mothers. Methods: This was an ethnographic study and involved tweenty six participants who met the inclusion criteria. The data were collected using focus group discussion, indepth interviews, observations, and field notes. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis method. Results: The study results revealed that the majority of participants breastfeed their infants, however they provide early supplemental food beside breastmilk. Early supplemental food introduction was affected by the mothers knowledge about exclusive breastfeeeding and cultural beliefs. Five main themes of early supplemental food introduction were 1) Early supplemental food introduction is common among Indonesian mothers, 2) Perceive early supplemental food is good for the infant, 3) The sooner the better, 4) The supplemental food types, and 5) Grandmother know best. Conclusion: The majority of Indonesian mothers provide early supplemental food for their infants. A culturally sensitive health education is needed to prevent early supplemental food introduction in order to increase the exclusive breastfeeding practice among the Javanese community. The program should involve the grandmother as the key person in the early supplemental food introduction.