308579
Examination of the impact of neighborhood degradation on breastfeeding rates
Public health professionals have long understood that environment shapes health outcomes; neighborhood degradation appears to exert an effect on many health behaviors including infant mortality, and depression (Blair, Ross & Gariepy, 2014). Little is known about the role of neighborhood degradation on breastfeeding initiation and duration; our analysis seeks to determine whether it is independently associated with lower breastfeeding initiation and shorter duration.
Methods
The National Survey of Children’s Health is a telephone questionnaire of randomly sampled parents/guardians across the United States reporting on a child in their households aged 0-5 years (N=29,829). Using this dataset, we analyzed neighborhood degradation through use of pre-selected categorical responses to questions about litter or garbage on the street, poorly kept or dilapidated housing, and neighborhood vandalism. Outcomes breastfeeding initiation and duration were analyzed by ever/never breastfed and by month of cessation among children under age six, respectively.
Results
Seventy-nine percent of children included in this analysis were ever breastfed (n=23,502). Preliminary results show at six months, the children of parents reporting vandalism in their neighborhood were 1.8 times less likely to be breastfeeding as compared to children living in areas with no reported vandalism, suggesting an inverse relationship between the level of neighborhood degradation and breastfeeding duration.
Implications
Our findings suggest that degradation in a woman’s neighborhood may somehow act to dissuade her from initiating breastfeeding or discourage her from continuing to breastfeed. Understanding the environmental influences on breastfeeding is an important area of inquiry that needs additional research.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programsAdministration, management, leadership
Advocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related public policy
Learning Objectives:
Identify social determinants of health at the neighborhood level.
Evaluate breastfeeding rates in the context of neighborhood condition.
Assess how various aspects of neighborhood degradation impact breastfeeding initiation and duration.
Keyword(s): Breastfeeding, Built Environment
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I work in federally funded maternal and child health research, focusing on children and youth with special health care needs. I also have experience in community-based research, specifically asset mapping and needs assessment. As a student I focused my degree on maternal and child health in an effort to understand the effects of the built environment on important health promoting behaviors like breastfeeding. I have conducted several literature reviews on breastfeeding practices in vulnerable populations.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.