Breastfeeding education and infant health in the rural Philippines.

Abstract

In the Philippines, all mothers in one rural community near Dumaguete on Negros Oriental who delivered infants within a specified period took part in a health education program, while mothers in a control community also near Dumaguete did not receive such education. Group classes and individual counseling about optimal infant feeding practices comprised the health education program. It focused on feeding colostrum, breast feeding frequently, and countering local breast feeding myths. During months 2-7, infants in the experimental community were much healthier than those in the control community. The difference between the communities was especially great during months 5-7 (p 0.05). For example, in month 7, only 9 % of infants in the control community were healthy compared to 42% of those in the experimental community. Respiratory illness was the most frequent illness for both groups (3-28% for cases and 11-43% for controls). During the months when mothers introduced semisolid foods as supplements (months 5-6) and even the following month, infants in the control community were significantly more likely to have diarrhea than those in the study community (7-12% vs. 0, p 0.1, and 18% vs. 0, p 0.01, respectively). In every month, some infants in the control group had diarrhea, while in 7 of the 12 months no infant in the experiment group had diarrhea. Mothers of study infants were less likely to seek treatment than those in the experimental group, the difference being significant during months 4-7. Although the proportion of healthy infants fell with infant's age and proportion receiving supplements increased with age in both groups, supplementation occurred earlier and illnesses occurred more often in the control group than the study group. Despite differences in illnesses between the two communities, infant weight was similar for both groups. Regular supplementation was not associated with illness, but measurement of illness may have been subject to reporting bias. These findings suggest that the education program on infant feeding had a positive effect on infant health.