الفهرس 
acknoledegementOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Prolonged breast feeding in general, is much more common and practiced for a longer period of time in low income countries than in high income countries Recently it appear that there is an increasing trend in breast feeding among the better educated segments of some communities in some developed countries. The nutritional adequacy of the infant’s diet t is vitally important, which can be provided through breast feeding for the first 4 to 6 months and through breast milk with additional foods at older age. Bottle feeding can not be undertaken safely without reasonable home hygiene and without sufficient funds i ), to purchase adequate quantities of formula. This study was a longtudinal type of study based on regular home visits for 170 postpartum women. The nutri tional status for both mother and infant was done through anthropometry and dietary intake. The cost of the daily diet for mothers and infants was estimated through survey of prices of the food items consumed. The mean age for receiving supplementary foods was 8.8 months for infants of fully lactating mothers and 7.2 months for infants of partially lactating mothers. Cases of diarrhea were less for infants receiving full lactation than those receiving partial lactation during the early ,months of life, but when the full lactating infants become exposed to foods other than the breast milk they suffered from frequent attacks of diarrhea. Infants with more frequent diarrheal episodes show some growth retardation in 11 both groups. The mean caloric intake was higher for infants recei ving partial lactation than those receiving full lactation. The mean cost for infants of fully lactating mothers included the cost of both maternal and infants supplementary diets. The mean cost for infants of part ially lactating mothers include cost of maternal diet, infants supplementary diets and cost of formula feeding. The overall cost of feeding was less in case of full lactated than partial lactated infants. This may be a well known fact but to our knowledge, it has not been documented in studies in our communities. Therefore the study was done as an attempt to document the cost of infant feeding in a rural community.