Abstract

The study was done to determine the correlation between breast feeding and respiratory
tract infections among children aged 5 years and below admitted at Fort Portal Regional
Referral Hospital. A descriptive cross-sectional design technique was used in this
investigation. To accomplish its goals, the research team used quantitative methodology.
This used open-ended and closed-ended questions to investigate the link between respiratory
illnesses and breast-feeding among children hospitalized at Fort Portal Regional Referral
Hospital. the majority of the 355 breastfeeding children aged 4 years who were studied as
mother-child pairs were male 178 (50.1%), had breastfed for more than six months 113
(31.9%), were born after 37 weeks of gestation 336 (94.6%), had received a vitamin D
supplement at 6–12 months of age 188 (53%) and had attended daycare in their first two
years of life 137 (38.6%), as shown in the study. There is a lower incidence of lower
respiratory tract infections in kids under the age of five when breastfeeding exclusively for
six months or longer. The results of this study are consistent with the idea that breastfeeding
for a prolonged period of time protects against respiratory tract infections even after
infanthood, confirming the current WHO guidelines to breastfeed for at least six months.