en بهداشت عمومی Public Health پژوهشي Research <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%">Background: </span></b><span style="line-height:115%">Traditionally, women assume the sole responsibility of improving child health.<a name="_Hlk84517959"> T</a></span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="line-height:115%">he patriarchal nature of the African society gives men more socioeconomic power and control at home, making </span></span><span style="line-height:115%">the importance of investigating male involvement in child-care practices a priority. This study explored the opinions of community dwelling fathers on male involvement in child-care practices.</span></span><br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%">Methods: </span></b><span style="background:white"><span style="line-height:115%">A community-based study was carried out among fifty-nine married men aged 21-49 years in Sepeteri, Saki East LGA, Oyo State. Eight focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted using a FGD guide. We explored the knowledge of childcare practices, men&rsquo;s roles in childcare and readiness to partake in childcare practices among the participants. The resulting data were analyzed thematically, using direct manual content analysis.</span></span><b><span style="line-height:115%"></span></b></span><br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="background:white"><span style="line-height:115%">Results: </span></span></b><span style="background:white"><span style="line-height:115%">Eight FGDs were conducted among 56 married men, 50 of the respondents believed that mothers are responsible for taking care of the children while men have to provide money and shelter for the family. Willingness to participate in childcare practices was low due to some societal perceptions around male involvement in such activities. However, a few respondents agreed to secretly helping out with household chores.</span></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="background:white"><span style="line-height:115%">Conclusion: </span></span></b><span style="background:white"><span style="line-height:115%">Male involvement in childcare practices was observed to be poor among the study group. To optimize child health and welfare in our society, there is a need for health education and health promoting-interventions that will enable men participate in childcare practices.</span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp;</p> Child Care, Family, Roles, Male Involvement, Nigeria 126 133 http://jhr.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1847-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Olubukola Omobowale ocomobowale@com.ui.edu.ng 0000-0001-6795-6371 Yes Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria Ayodeji Adebayo davidsonone@yahoo.com 0000-0002-9912-100X No Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria Temiloluwa Iyanda temiiyanda2@gmail.com 0000-0003-3070-5549 No Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria