PEDIATRICS Vol. 87 No. 3 March 1991, pp. 361-366
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Breast-feeding Among Women Attending Women, Infants, and Children Clinics in Georgia, 1987

Robin J. MacGowan MPH1, Carol A. MacGowan MPH1, Mary K. Serdula MD, MPH1, J. Michael Lane MD, MPH1, Riduan M. Joesoef MD, PhD1, and Frances H. Cook MA, RD1

1 From the Division of Public Health, Emory University; the Office of Nutrition, Georgia Department of Human Resources; the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Nutrition, Centers for Disease Control; and the Center for Prevention Services, Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease/Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevention, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia

Breast-feeding is an important determinant of the health and nutritional status of children, particularly in lower socioeconomic populations. A major goal of the Georgia Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is to increase the practice of breast-feeding among the women it serves. Breast-feeding practices were determined among a random sample of 404 women from a cohort of 2010 who attended WIC prenatal clinics in Georgia in 1986 and were expected to deliver in February 1987. Respondents were interviewed 6 months postpartum. Of these women, 24% initially breast-fed, but only 6% continued for 6 months or longer. The initiation of breast-feeding was associated with greater maternal education and with being married. The adjusted odds of breast-feeding for mothers who were married or living as married were 3.0 (95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 5.3) times greater than for mothers who were not married or living as married. Mothers with more than 12 years, 12 years, or 10 to 11 years of education were 5.2 (1.8 to 15.3), 2.7 (1.0 to 6.9), and 2.5 (0.9 to 6.9) times more likely, respectively, to breast-feed than mothers with 9 or fewer years of education. After adjustment was made for marital status and education, the remaining variables (ethnicity, parity, age, and employment status) did not influence the initiation of breast-feeding in this low-income population. The need for vigorous promotion of breast-feeding by the Georgia WIC program is emphasized by the low rate of initiation and short duration of breast-feeding in this low-income population.

Key Words: Breast-feeding • Women • Infants • Children Program

Submitted on September 12, 1989
Accepted on May 16, 1990




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