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Specifying the antecedents of breast-feeding duration in Peru through a structural equation model
R Pérez-Escamilla1, J A Cobas, H Balcazar
1Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06269-4017, USA. rperez@canr1.cag.uconn.edu
Objective:
To examine the effects of socioeconomic status and biocultural variables (planned pregnancy, prenatal care, timing of initiation of breast-feeding and caesarean section delivery) on breast-feeding duration in Peru using structural equation models.
Design And Setting:
Structural equation models were analysed with LISREL using data from the 1991-92 Peruvian Demographic and Health Survey.
Subjects:
Models were tested among 6,020 women whose last child was born within 5 years of the survey and among 2,711 women whose last child was born 2-5 years preceding the survey.
Results:
Unplanned pregnancy and socioeconomic status had a negative influence on breast-feeding duration. Prenatal care was positively associated with the timing of breast-feeding initiation in both samples and with breast-feeding duration in the whole sample. The timing of breast-feeding initiation was inversely associated with breast-feeding duration only in the sample of older children.
Conclusions:
These results imply that an unplanned pregnancy, a delayed breast-feeding initiation, and higher socioeconomic status are risk factors for an earlier discontinuation of breast-feeding through complex mechanisms involving direct and indirect effects.