QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 139/8/1582    most recent jn.108.102392v1 Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Rasheed, S. Articles by Rasmussen, K. M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rasheed, S. Articles by Rasmussen, K. M.

---

Community and International Nutrition

Maternal, Infant, and Household Factors Are Associated with Breast-Feeding Trajectories during Infants' First 6 Months of Life in Matlab, Bangladesh^1,2

³ Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; ⁴ Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29280; and ⁵ International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

Women's breast-feeding patterns are complex, and existing definitions of breast-feeding behavior do not capture this complexity adequately. We used results from a prior qualitative study to define trajectories for feeding during the first half of infancy, and then examined household-, maternal-, and infant-level determinants of these trajectories using logistic regression analysis. The 1472 women in the study cohort lived in rural Bangladesh and were participants in the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Intervention in Matlab trial. The 3 infant feeding trajectories included women who fed only breast milk and water [full breast-feeding trajectory (FBT)]; offered mixed feeding continuously when their babies were 0–4 mo old [continuous mixed feeding trajectory (CMFT)]; and practiced any other type of breast-feeding [intermittent feeding trajectory (IFT)], which was the normative feeding behavior in this community. In adjusted regression models, women who lived in rural areas [odds ratio (OR), 2.1; 95% CI, 1.2, 3.4], came from the poorest households (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.5, 7.7), and offered prelacteal (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.0–2.7) were more likely to be in the FBT. Women from the richest households (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1, 2.6), employed mothers (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1, 2.6), and older mothers (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.0, 1.1) were more likely to be in the CMFT, and women with higher birth-weight infants (OR, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4–0.8) were less likely to be in the CMFT. Thus, these trajectories were associated with distinct groups of women and these results provide information useful for developing interventions to improve breast-feeding practices.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sabrina1{at}icddrb.org.

Manuscript received 30 December 2008. Initial review completed 10 February 2009. Revision accepted 1 June 2009.

Published online 23 June 2009.