Complementary feeding plactices of indigenous mothers in rural Bolivia

Abstract

This study has been conducted as a, so called, Minor Field Study. As students from Gothenburg University, the Department of Food and Nutrition, and Sport Science, we were granted a scholarship from The Swedish International Cooperation Agency (SIDA) to conduct a Minor Field Study. This is an opportunity for Swedish students to learn more about developing countries and the issues with which these countries struggle. The Minor Field Study programme implies travelling to a developing country for at least eight weeks in order to collect data for a bachelor or master thesis, in our case a bachelor thesis. We decided to apply for this scholarship out of interests for global issues and different cultures. As we care for children´s health and wellbeing, and as Bolivia is fighting big issues regarding malnutrition and child mortality this topic and country were the obvious choices for us. Bolivia is also a multi-cultural country, which we were curious and interested in, particularly the Andean and indigenous cultures.

To be granted a Minor Field Study in a non-English speaking country it is a requirement to speak the native language. In this case it was Spanish, which Agneta knew how to speak. As Emelie didn´t speak the language, a certain distribution of the tasks in field was necessary. Agneta was the one performing the interviews and communicated with people who we came in contact with in order to conduct this study. Emelie performed the observations that were done simultaneously with the interviews.

To be in Bolivia and conduct this study has been an unforgettable experience that we have learnt a lot from. As none of us have any personal experiences regarding breastfeeding and complementary feeding this has been an especially interesting and educative experience. Even if it is an impossible task to recreate what we have experienced in field we hope that you will find this thesis interesting and that you will enjoy the reading.