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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
David Johnson, MPH and Gopal Narayan, MS, MPH. Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support, 250 South 4th Street, Room 510, Minneapolis, MN 55415-1372, 612-673-3948, david.johnson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Breastfeeding confers many health benefits to mother and child both short and long term. However, data is rarely available at a local level to examine the characteristics of breastfeeding behavior. Within this context, we examine the association between breastfeeding practice and maternal characteristics in an urban population.
Data for this study were gathered from a 1999 population-based survey of the parents of infants and toddlers between the ages of six months and two years called the Child Health Assessment and Monitoring Project. The data used in this analysis is based on 3,352 interviews with mothers. Questions included information about family life, the neighborhood, social connections, parenting practices, health care access, and the child’s physical health.
In this study, we analyzed retrospective reports of breastfeeding, as well as maternal age, race, income, education, country of origin, employment status after birth, and relationship status (partnered or not).
We use logistic regression to predict breastfeeding practice by the maternal characteristics. In a reduced model limited to variables that were significant in the original model, we found women who did not breastfeed were more likely to be teen mothers (OR=1.75), low income (OR=1.56), women of color (OR=1.67), mothers who have not completed high school (OR=1.87), non-partnered women (OR=1.27), and less likely to have returned to work after the birth (OR=0.75).
This suggests that a host of social and cultural factors play a role in a woman’s decision to breastfeed. This research provides a local assessment of breastfeeding among urban mothers, and suggests that breastfeeding interventions must be sensitive to mothers’ socioeconomic status and cultural background.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to
Keywords: Breastfeeding, Urban Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.