Determinants of Breast-Feeding Practices in OroMia Region: An Analysis of the 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey
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Date
2008-10-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Breasrfeeding is an unequalled way a/providing ideal/ood /01' the healthy growth and development 0/ in/ants and has a unique biological and emotional injluence 011 the health 0/ both lIIother and child. Moreover, breasrfeedingis knownto be among the IIIOst important proxilllate determinants o//ertility in most developing countries. However, despite allt,l(lu ost wOlllen m. 0 rOllll.a (,I [' scontm. ue br easrfeeding be/ore the recommended time. Moreover, declining trends inthe prevalence and ji-equency 0/ breasrfeeding have been observed. Nonetheless, lillIe or no allempt has been made toidentifj1the/actors affecting breast-feeding practices in the region.This sllldy, there/ore, aimed at identifYing the major determining factors 0/ early initiation. intensity and duration 0/breastfeeding in the region. The study used data obtained ji-Olll the 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey(EDHS). Moreover, prill/my data collected through in-depth interviews ji-om key in/arm ants was used to substantiatethe findings. A total 0/1211 currently married women aged 15-49 who gave birth to at least one child in the last fiveyears preceding the survey and residing in the region were included in the study.Initially, bivariate analysis (Chi-square test) was used to examine the differentials in the timing 0/ initial breastfeeding,intensity and proportion a/women breasrfeeding at different durations across the different socia-economic,demographic and health care Characteristics a/the lIIother. At the multivariate level, Logistic regression techniquewas employed to identifjl the /I1ost important predictors 0/ early initiation and intensity 0/ breasrfeeding. MultipleClassification Analysis technique was applied to identifY the most important/actors affecting duration o/breasrfeedingResults o/the lIIultivariate analysis indicate that the most illlportant/actors that significantly affect timing 0/ initialbreastfeeding were age o/mo/her and contraceptive use. Older mothers have shown to put the newborn to the breastwithin an hour after birth ,th-a--n younger. On the other hand, contraceptive users were less likely to initiatebreasrfeeding immediately than non-users. With regard to intensity 0/ breasrfeeding (up on demand), parity and workstatus 0/ mothers are the IIIOSt important factors that affect the practice. Mothers 0/ higher parity and those notworking had higher chance o/breasrfeeding intenSively than lower parity and working mothers. Regarding duration 0/breasrfeeding, age a/mother, bOllle-feeding, religion, work. status and contraceptive use were/ound the most importantvariables that significantly affect duration.Finally, based on the findings, the study suggests that would contribute to intervel7lions aimed at reducing barriers 0/breasrfeeding practices. Attempts to promote and support to an increased in the rates 0/ immediate breasrfeedingwithin an hour 0/ birth, longer and ji-equent breasrfeeding would have a significant impact to reduce the existing high/ertility and in/ant mortality in Oromia. Hence, raising 0/ awareness a/young, educated and those lIIothers usingfeeding bOllles about the manifold benefits 0/ breasrfeeding through in/ormation, education and communication (IEC)programmes using mass media such as radio, television, posters and magazines, is 0/ paramollnl importance.
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Determinants of Breast-Feeding Practices in OroMia Region