Specifying the antecedents of breast-feeding duration in Peru through a structural equation model

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effects of socioeconomic status and biocultural variables (planned pregnancy, prenatal care, timing of initiation of breast-feeding and caesarean section delivery) on breast-feeding duration in Peru using structural equation models. Design and setting: Structural equation models were analysed with LISREL using data from the 1991-92 Peruvian Demographic and Health Survey. Subjects: Models were tested among 6020 women whose last child was born within 5 years of the survey and among 2711 women whose last child was born 2-5 years preceding the survey. Results: Unplanned pregnancy and socioeconomic status had a negative influence on breast-feeding duration. Prenatal care was positively associated with the timing of breast-feeding initiation in both samples and with breast-feeding duration in the whole sample. The timing of breast-feeding initiation was inversely associated with breast-feeding duration only in the sample of older children. Conclusions: These results imply that an unplanned pregnancy, a delayed breastfeeding initiation, and higher socioeconomic status are risk factors for an earlier discontinuation of breast-feeding through complex mechanisms involving direct and indirect effects.

Death and Desirability: Retrospective Reporting of Unintended Pregnancy After a Child’s Death

“…Several cross-sectional surveys show that children from unintended pregnancies are breastfed less (Berra et al 2001, Chinebuah and Pérez-Escamilla 2001, Hromi-Fiedler and Pérez-Escamilla 2006, Joyce, Kaestner and Korenman 2000a, Korenman, Kaestner and Joyce 2002, Kost, Landry and Darroch 1998, Matějček, Dytrych and Schüller 1978, Pérez-Escamilla et al 1999, Taylor and Cabral 2002) and receive less preventative healthcare (Marston and Cleland 2003), including childhood immunizations (Cheng et al 2009, Eggleston 2000, Magadi, Madise and Rodrigues 2000, Marston and Cleland 2003), compared to their peers born from intended pregnancies.…”

Perinatal Depressive Symptoms, Sociodemographic Correlates, and Breast-Feeding Among Chinese Women

“…28 Low-income women may tend to believe that formula feeding carries a much higher monetary cost than breast-feeding and is thus a marker of status, 29 and in some countries more affluent women choose not to breast-feed as a sign of their wealth. 30,31 A woman's need to return to work during the early postpartum period is a further barrier to breastfeeding, 23 and some empirical evidence has found that the need to return to work is the leading factor preventing breast-feeding for longer durations. 32,33 However, although there is much evidence of the effect of the need to work on breast-feeding duration among Western populations, the applicability of the findings to Chinese populations is unclear and conflicting results regarding this effect appear in the Chinese literature.…”

Soziale Ungleichheit beim Stillen in Deutschland

“…B. Indien [58], Lateinamerika [38], West-Afrika [11], Pakistan [2] und Peru [37]. Eine Online-Datenbank der WHO "The WHO Global Data Bank on Breastfeeding and Diese zeitlichen und regionalen Schwankungen im Verhältnis zwischen Stillen und SES erinnern sehr an "Modewellen", d. h. an die Ausbreitung neuer Ideen, Gewohnheiten oder Gebrauchsgegenstände und sollen hier vereinfacht und vorsichtig formuliert mit einem bekannten gesellschaftlichen Theorem erläutert werden.…”

“…Überra-schend ist aber v. a. dass in letztgenannten Ländern ein höherer sozialer Status offenbar mit einer größeren Wahrscheinlichkeit für eine frühe Entwöhnung von der Muttermilch oder Flaschenernährung von Geburt an verbunden ist (z. B [2,12,37,38,44,58]…”