Socioeconomically advantaged infants attending a university well-child clinic in Ankara: are they breast-feeding optimally?

This longitudinal observational study aimed to determine the rates of initiation, duration and correlates of breast-feeding by mothers living in a socioeconomically advantaged urban environment in Turkey. Healthy, term infants born at Ankara University Faculty of Medicine Hospital who would b...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: I O Ertem, Z Akinci, B Ulukol, S Başkan-Gülnar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health 2001-07-01
Series:The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
Online Access:https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/3058
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850028892230778880
author I O Ertem
Z Akinci
B Ulukol
S Başkan-Gülnar
author_facet I O Ertem
Z Akinci
B Ulukol
S Başkan-Gülnar
author_sort I O Ertem
collection DOAJ
description This longitudinal observational study aimed to determine the rates of initiation, duration and correlates of breast-feeding by mothers living in a socioeconomically advantaged urban environment in Turkey. Healthy, term infants born at Ankara University Faculty of Medicine Hospital who would be brought to the well-child clinic regularly for at least 12 months were enrolled. Data on feeding practices were obtained at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th and 12th month well child care visits. Breast-feeding outcome was categorized based on recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO). The majority of the 295 participating mothers were older than 20 years, high school graduates, and lived in apartment housing, and 54.6% were employed. The rates of breast-feeding were 97.9%, 90.1%, 76.9% and 36.9% at 1, 4, 6 and 12 months, respectively, and rates of exclusive breast-feeding were 89.8%, 59.3% and 2.0% at 1, 4 and 6 months, respectively. At 6 months 69.8% of infants were receiving cow's milk and by 12 months only 23.4% of the infants had been breast-fed according to WHO recommendations. Neither gender; birth weight of infant; age, education, parity, previous breast-feeding experience of mother; nor the status of living as extended versus nuclear family were related to breast-feeding outcome. Mothers who were working (RR: 3.89, 95% CI: 1.42-10.65) and those who had less than 4 months postpartum leave from work (RR: 4.20, 95% CI: 2.16-8.17) were more likely to not breast-feed optimally. The results of this study indicate that even where breast-feeding is normative behavior, it may not be optimally practiced, leading to potentially detrimental nutrition for infants. Promotion of breast-feeding even in advantaged urban populations is needed.
format Article
id doaj-art-b8d4a058082e4205b4586eea86408be1
institution DOAJ
issn 0041-4301
2791-6421
language English
publishDate 2001-07-01
publisher Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health
record_format Article
series The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
spelling doaj-art-b8d4a058082e4205b4586eea86408be12025-08-20T02:59:42ZengHacettepe University Institute of Child HealthThe Turkish Journal of Pediatrics0041-43012791-64212001-07-01433Socioeconomically advantaged infants attending a university well-child clinic in Ankara: are they breast-feeding optimally?I O Ertem0Z AkinciB UlukolS Başkan-GülnarDepartment of Pediatrics, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Turkey. This longitudinal observational study aimed to determine the rates of initiation, duration and correlates of breast-feeding by mothers living in a socioeconomically advantaged urban environment in Turkey. Healthy, term infants born at Ankara University Faculty of Medicine Hospital who would be brought to the well-child clinic regularly for at least 12 months were enrolled. Data on feeding practices were obtained at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th and 12th month well child care visits. Breast-feeding outcome was categorized based on recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO). The majority of the 295 participating mothers were older than 20 years, high school graduates, and lived in apartment housing, and 54.6% were employed. The rates of breast-feeding were 97.9%, 90.1%, 76.9% and 36.9% at 1, 4, 6 and 12 months, respectively, and rates of exclusive breast-feeding were 89.8%, 59.3% and 2.0% at 1, 4 and 6 months, respectively. At 6 months 69.8% of infants were receiving cow's milk and by 12 months only 23.4% of the infants had been breast-fed according to WHO recommendations. Neither gender; birth weight of infant; age, education, parity, previous breast-feeding experience of mother; nor the status of living as extended versus nuclear family were related to breast-feeding outcome. Mothers who were working (RR: 3.89, 95% CI: 1.42-10.65) and those who had less than 4 months postpartum leave from work (RR: 4.20, 95% CI: 2.16-8.17) were more likely to not breast-feed optimally. The results of this study indicate that even where breast-feeding is normative behavior, it may not be optimally practiced, leading to potentially detrimental nutrition for infants. Promotion of breast-feeding even in advantaged urban populations is needed. https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/3058
spellingShingle I O Ertem
Z Akinci
B Ulukol
S Başkan-Gülnar
Socioeconomically advantaged infants attending a university well-child clinic in Ankara: are they breast-feeding optimally?
The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
title Socioeconomically advantaged infants attending a university well-child clinic in Ankara: are they breast-feeding optimally?
title_full Socioeconomically advantaged infants attending a university well-child clinic in Ankara: are they breast-feeding optimally?
title_fullStr Socioeconomically advantaged infants attending a university well-child clinic in Ankara: are they breast-feeding optimally?
title_full_unstemmed Socioeconomically advantaged infants attending a university well-child clinic in Ankara: are they breast-feeding optimally?
title_short Socioeconomically advantaged infants attending a university well-child clinic in Ankara: are they breast-feeding optimally?
title_sort socioeconomically advantaged infants attending a university well child clinic in ankara are they breast feeding optimally
url https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/3058
work_keys_str_mv AT ioertem socioeconomicallyadvantagedinfantsattendingauniversitywellchildclinicinankaraaretheybreastfeedingoptimally
AT zakinci socioeconomicallyadvantagedinfantsattendingauniversitywellchildclinicinankaraaretheybreastfeedingoptimally
AT bulukol socioeconomicallyadvantagedinfantsattendingauniversitywellchildclinicinankaraaretheybreastfeedingoptimally
AT sbaskangulnar socioeconomicallyadvantagedinfantsattendingauniversitywellchildclinicinankaraaretheybreastfeedingoptimally