Factors associated with duration of breastfeeding in Bangladesh: evidence from Bangladesh demographic and health survey 2014

Ummay Ayesha,A S M A Mamun,Md Abu Sayem,Md Golam Hossain

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11804-7

Ummay Ayesha, A S M A Mamun + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11804-7

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Abstract

BackgroundBreastfeeding for optimum duration is one of the most effective ways to reduce infant morbidity and mortality and confirms expected growth and development of children. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of socio-demographic and anthropometric determinants on duration of breastfeeding (DB) among mothers in Bangladesh.MethodsThe data was extracted from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS)-2014. A total of 3541 married non–pregnant and currently non-breastfeeding Bangladeshi mothers in reproductive age who had at least one child aged 6–36 months were included in this study. Independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to find the significance difference in DB between two and more than two groups respectively. Multiple linear regression model was utilized to determine the effect of socio-economic, demographic, anthropometric and health related variables on DB.ResultsThis study revealed that the mean and median of DB among Bangladeshi mothers were 18.91 (95% CI: 18.65–19.17) and 19.00 months respectively. Independent sample t-test and ANOVA showed that DB among Bangladeshi mothers was significantly influenced by (i) ANC visits, (ii) religion, (iii) mode of delivery, (iv) place of delivery, (v) parents’ education, (vi) geographical location, (vii) mothers’ occupation and (viii) household wealth quintile. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that mothers’ age, total number of children, mothers’ age at first birth, ANC visits, mothers’ occupation and geographical location were important predictors of DB.ConclusionsHealthcare providers and decision makers can consider these findings to make plan for counseling of mothers and family members to promote optimum DB practice in first 2 years of baby’s life.

Highlights

Breastfeeding for optimum duration is one of the most effective ways to reduce infant morbidity and mortality and confirms expected growth and development of children
The increasing tendency of mean duration of breastfeeding (DB) was found with increasing the nutritional status of mothers, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated that the variation was not significant (p > 0.05) (Table 1)
In the present study, we tried to determine the factors which were related to the duration of breastfeeding among mothers in Bangladesh using nationally representative data collected by Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS)-2014

Summary

Introduction

Breastfeeding for optimum duration is one of the most effective ways to reduce infant morbidity and mortality and confirms expected growth and development of children. Scientific studies have substantiated the evidence of the integral role of breastfeeding in the survival, growth and development of children, as well as good health and wellbeing of mothers. Optimum breastfeeding reduces the risk of diarrhea, respiratory or ear infections and other infectious diseases that increase infant mortality [3]. A study clearly mentioned that sub-optimal breastfeeding can increase the risk of mortality in first two or more years of child life [5]. For adequate growth and maintenance of health, infants should receive nutritionally rich and safe complementary foods along with breastfeeding from six months to two years of age [7, 8]. Knowledge and attitude towards duration of breastfeeding among mothers are influenced by sociocultural, demographic and physiological factors such as education, income, residence, tradition, belief, and parents age [9,10,11,12,13,14,15]

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