Table 1 Percentage of infants observed to be exposed to different pathways during household observations, by categories of mobility levels
Elements ingested or in contact with the child’s mouth | Immobile infants (N = 11) | Semi mobile infants (N = 13) | Mobile infants (N = 23) |
|---|---|---|---|
Flies observed on lips and face mucus | 64% | 69% | 74% |
Mouthing of own fingers | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Mouthing of own fingers immediately after hand contact with dirt | 0% | 77% | 74% |
Mouthing of mother and sometimes grandmother’s breasts, during breastfeeding or as a pacifier method | 73% | 54% | 39% |
Mouthing of cloths, which were typically women’s sari scarfs and often visibly dirty, used as bed linen to wrap young infants | 45% | 8% | 0% |
Mouthing of miscellaneous objects in the environment, mainly visibly dirty plastic or plant elements | 0% | 62% | 61% |
Ingestion of food items while sitting on the floor with constant floor-hand-mouth contacts | 0% | 31% | 57% |
Direct ingestion of soil | 0% | 15% | 39% |
Ingestion of drinking water | 9% | 23% | 35% |