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The impact of breast feeding patterns on the biometric analysis of infant mortality
Insights
Infant mortality patterns differ based on feeding type, challenging biometric analysis assumptions. Breastfeeding duration significantly impacts infant mortality age structure, requiring careful consideration in analyses.
Area of Science:
- Demography
- Public Health
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Biometric analysis of infant mortality, notably Bourgeois-Pichat's method, assumes a constant age structure for post-neonatal deaths.
- This assumption is critical for estimating endogenous infant mortality rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-evaluate the assumption of a constant age structure in infant mortality.
- To investigate the influence of infant feeding type on the age pattern of mortality.
- To assess the impact of varying breastfeeding customs on infant mortality age structures.
Main Methods:
- Reanalysis of existing study data comparing infant mortality by feeding type.
- Examination of historical data from populations with diverse breastfeeding practices.
Main Results:
- The relationship between infant mortality and age within the first year differs significantly between breastfed and artificially fed infants.
- Historical data reveal that populations with less breastfeeding exhibit a steeper rise in infant mortality during early infancy.
- Decreasing breastfeeding rates in developing countries may alter infant mortality age structures.
Conclusions:
- The assumption of a constant age structure for infant mortality is not universally valid.
- Infant feeding practices, particularly breastfeeding, substantially influence the age pattern of infant mortality.
- Deviations from linear mortality patterns necessitate caution when applying biometric techniques, as estimates of endogenous mortality are sensitive to data selection.
Abstract:
A major assumption of the biometric analysis of infant mortality as developed by Bourgeois-Pichat is that the age structure of infant deaths after the first month of life is virtually constant across time and cultures. Reanalysis of results from studies which compare the mortality of infants according to the type of feeding indicated that the relationship between mortality and age within the first year of life followed different patterns for breast fed and artificially fed infants. Historical data for populations with different breast feeding customs reveal similar differences in the age pattern of infant mortality. In populations where breast feeding was uncommon or of very short duration, infant mortality rises particularly steeply during the early months of the first year of life. The age structure of infant mortality in less developed countries where breast feeding is decreasing rapidly may bsimilarly affected. When substantial deviations from the linear relationship are evident, particular caution is required in applying the biometric technique, since in such situations the estimated endogenous mortality is very much affected by the particular set of data points within the first year of life which are chosen for the basis of the estimates.