Paediatrica Indonesiana (May 2008)
Effect of exclusive breast-feeding on the linear growth of children aged 24-36 months in Bandung's urban slum area
Abstract
Background Breast milk is an ideal nutrition source for infants because of its balanced composition, naturally adjusted to infants' need for growth and without any expenses. However, low education mothers living in slum areas are ignorant towards informations about the importance of exclusive breast-feeding. Objective To observe the effects of exclusive breast-feeding on linear growth of children aged 24-36 months in urban slums area. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out on 343 children consisted of 188 exclusively breastfed infants and 155 nonexclusively breastfed infants in Puskesmas Cigondewah area on August to September 2007. Anthropometric measurements were performed to obtain linear growth status. Data were analyzed by using odd ratio (OR). The first step was performed univariately to assess the effect of data variables. Henceforth, factors which significantly influence the growth will be assesed by multivariate calculation. Results Normal linear growth status was found in 109 (66.1%) exclusively breastfed compared with 56 (33.9%) nonexclusively breastfed children. Univariate analyzes showed that factors that influenced children normal linear growth were exclusive breast-feeding (OR: 2.44; 95%CI: 1.58;3.78), industrial product porridge as complementary food (OR: 1.65; 95%CI: 1.00;2.72), and frequency of illnesses <6x/year (OR: 1.57; 95%CI: 1.02;2.42). The result of multinomial logistic regression analyzes showed that exclusive breast-feeding became the only factor that influence children linear growth (OR: 2.254; 95%CI: 1.438;3.533). Conclusion Exclusive breast-feeding has significant positive effect on linear growth of children.
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