Perceived neighborhood conditions correlated with breastfeeding rates in African American communities

Purpose: The risks associated with lack of breastfeeding have proven to cause long-term effects for both mothers and children. Deleterious neighborhood conditions have been found to be associated with poor maternal and child health outcomes. Breastfeeding rates in Black communities are considerably low without a probable cause. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between perceived neighborhood conditions and breast feeding among African American infants age 1 and younger. Methods: Data was taken from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health. Survey questions were used on to identify households with one or more children less than 18 years of age. A parent or guardian answered the questions that knew the most about the child's or children's health and health care. A total of 2,399 Black children are included in this study. The logistic regression model was employed to assess the relationship between breast feeding status and neighborhood characteristics including, perceived safety, number of amenities, number of deleterious elements and cohesion. Results: After controlling for federal poverty level and highest level of household education, children who live in neighborhoods with more amenities are 1.3 times more likely to be breastfed compared to children who live in neighborhoods with fewer amenities. Perceived neighborhood safety and cohesion, while significant in bivariate analyses, were no longer significant after controlling for indicators of socio-economic status. Conclusions: Targeting African American neighborhoods with barriers to breast feeding can assist in developing public health infrastructures that address issues surrounding the topic.