Abstract
BackgroundAdequate nutrition during early childhood ensures growth and development of children and breast milk is better than any other products given to a child. However, studies on exclusive breastfeeding practice are limited in Somaliland. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and its associated factors among children 6–24 months of age in Burao district, Somaliland.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 26 August to 10 October 2018, in Burao district among randomly, selected 464 mothers with children 6–24 months of age. Data were collected through face-to-face interview using pretested structured questionnaire.ResultsThe prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was 20.47% (95% CI 18.84, 23.63%). Exclusive breastfeeding practice was associated with: having female child (AOR 0.48; 95% CI 0.29, 0.80)), lack of formal education (AOR 0.32; 95% CI 0.19, 0.53), household monthly income 100$-200$ (AOR 0.35;95% CI 0.18, 0.68), lack of husband’s support (AOR 0.32; 95% CI 0.19, 0.53), and mothers who were not counselled on breastfeeding during antenatal care (AOR = 0.33; 95% CI 0.16, 0.66).ConclusionsExclusive breastfeeding practice was very low as compared to recommendations of infant and young child practice (IYCF) which recommends children to exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months of life. Exclusive breastfeeding practice was associated with a mother’s lack of formal education, monthly income less than 100$, being a female child, lack of advice on exclusive breastfeeding during antenatal care and lack of husband support. The promotion of education for women, husband’s engagement, encouraging antenatal care follow-up and counseling of exclusive breastfeeding during antenatal care was recommended to improve exclusive breastfeeding practice.
Highlights
Adequate nutrition during early childhood ensures growth and development of children and breast milk is better than any other products given to a child
According to the definition the World Health Organization (WHO), Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is the situation in which an infant receives only breast milk from his/her mother or a wet nurse for the first 6 months and no other solids or liquids with the exception of drops or syrups consisting of vitamins, minerals, supplements, or medicines [1]
Obstetric history and health service related factors Of the 464 mothers who participated in the study, 194 (41.8%) of the mothers had more than three living children at the time of the study
Summary
Adequate nutrition during early childhood ensures growth and development of children and breast milk is better than any other products given to a child. The rates of EBF for the past two decades have been increasing, it is still a long road to achieve the 100% global target coverage recommended by UNICEF. This is evident in the current low prevalence of EBF in the developing world in West and Central Africa which happen to have one of the highest rates of infant malnutrition in the world [2, 3]. Despite the WHO recommendations and benefits of EBF, worldwide, only 39% of newborns were put to the breast within 1 h of birth, and only 37% of infants were exclusively breastfed. In North Africa, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding is 41, 44% in Asia, and the lowest in Latin America at 30% [4, 5]
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