Breastfeeding in Nepal: patterns and determinants

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the determinants of breast-feeding according to the characteristics of mother and her child. Cox proportional hazard model technique has been employed to investigate the determinants of breast-feeding. The data were utilized from a sample survey of Palpa and Rupandehi districts of rural Nepal. The study revealed that the current age of mothers, their education and socio-economic status were found to be the main determinants of breast-feeding. The current age of mother showed statistically significant relation with the duration of breast-feeding. Younger mothers are most likely to terminate breast-feeding early as compared to older counter-parts. The decreased risk of terminating breast-feeding was found with increased duration of post-partum amenorrhea, and a strong positive association was found to be statistically significant. The increased relative risk of terminating breast-feeding was found with increased the level of education of mothers, which indicates that the education is inversely related to the duration of breast-feeding. For instance, three times higher risk of terminating breast-feeding was found for educated mothers as compared to illiterate mothers. Socio-economic status of the household exhibits a statistically significant effect on the duration of breast-feeding. It is believed that this finding may help planners and policy-makers for designing proper policy and program for improving mothers and their children’s health and for reducing fertility of a country.