Predictors of exclusive breastfeeding among infants under-six months in rural Ethiopia
Halefom Shwaye Hantal1, Gebrie Melese Abite1, Kassahun Animut Metkie1
1Department of Statistics, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Dilla University, Dilla, Ethiopia.
Insights
Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in rural Ethiopia is significantly impacted by factors like radio access, C-section delivery, region, and early initiation of breastfeeding. Interventions should be region-specific to support mothers and improve EBF rates.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Maternal and Child Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is crucial for infant health, involving feeding only breast milk for the first six months.
- EBF prevalence is low in developing nations, including Ethiopia, highlighting a need for awareness and intervention.
- This study aimed to identify key predictors influencing the duration of EBF in infants under six months in rural Ethiopian settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine significant predictors affecting the duration of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) among infants under six months in rural Ethiopia.
- To provide evidence-based insights for developing targeted interventions to enhance EBF practices in the region.
Main Methods:
- Survival analysis was employed using data from the 2019 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey (EMDHS).
- A multivariable Weibull parametric survival model was utilized to identify significant predictors of EBF duration.
- The analysis focused on infants under six months of age in rural Ethiopia.
Main Results:
- Approximately 15.1% of mothers in rural Ethiopia did not practice exclusive breastfeeding, indicating a significant public health concern.
- Key predictors for EBF duration included: maternal radio access (positive association), C-section delivery (negative association), and specific regions (Amhara, Oromia, Somali, SNNPR, Gambela, Harari, Dire Dawa - all negative associations).
- Early initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour (positive association), infant age (0-1 year - negative association), longer preceding birth intervals (24+ months - negative association), and currently married mothers (negative association) were also significant predictors.
Conclusions:
- The duration of exclusive breastfeeding in rural Ethiopia is significantly influenced by household radio access, mode of delivery (C-section), geographic region, early breastfeeding initiation, infant age, preceding birth interval, and maternal marital status.
- Targeted, region-specific interventions are essential to improve EBF practices.
- Addressing the factors affecting the 15.1% of mothers not exclusively breastfeeding is critical for improving infant health outcomes.
Background:
Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is the practice of providing infants with only breast milk for the first six months of their life, except for medically prescribed drugs or supplements. Globally, EBF prevalence varies with low awareness in developing countries including Ethiopia. Hence, this study identified the significant predictors of the duration of EBF among infants fewer than six months in rural Ethiopia.
Methods:
A survival analysis was used to identify the significant predictors of EBF in rural Ethiopia using the 2019 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey (EMDHS) dataset.
Results:
During the survey period in rural Ethiopia, a significant proportion of mothers (15.1%) do not exclusively breastfeed their infants, which still represents a major health problem. The final multivariable Weibull parametric survival model identified significant predictors of the duration of EBF in rural Ethiopia, such as, mothers with radio access (HR = 1.274, p-value 0.020), mothers delivered by C-section (HR = 0.573, p-value <0.001), mothers residing in Amhara (HR = 0.406, p-value = 0.025), Oromia (HR = 0.379, p-value = 0.017), Somali (HR = 0.112, p-value < 0.001), SNNPR (HR = 0.296, p-value = 0.002), Gambela (HR = 0.285, p-value = 0.002), Harari (HR = 0.220, p-value < 0.001), and Dire Dawa (HR = 0.234, p-value < 0.001), EIBF immediately within the first hour (HR = 1.554, p-value < 0.001), infants aged 0-1 year (HR = 0.226, p-value < 0.001), birth interval of 24 months and more (HR = 0.819, p-value = 0.034), and mothers who were currently married (HR = 0.514, p-value = 0.016).
Conclusion:
The duration of EBF among infants less than six months in rural Ethiopia is significantly influenced by household access to radio, cesarean delivery, region, early initiation of breastfeeding, child's age, preceding birth interval, and marital status at the 5% significance level. To improve EBF practices, there must be targeted interventions that are relevant to regions and better support for 15.1% of mothers.
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