engleski

Association between breastfeeding duration, maternal socioeconomic status and infant weight gain

INTRODUCTION: Nutrition during infancy is a major contributor to growth rate. WHO recommendations to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, exclusively breastfeed within the first six months and continue breastfeeding up to two years of age are rarely followed. Maternal socioeconomic status (SES) may also play a major role in growth patterns and mediate the association between breastfeeding and infant’s growth. The aim of this study was to identify the patterns of breastfeeding and infants’ growth in weight in Dalmatia, Croatia and investigate their association with maternal SES. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from Croatian Island’s Birth Cohort Study (CRIBS) was used. Participants were 83 infant-mother pairs from Dalmatia, Croatia. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS Statistics 25.0. and WHO Anthro software 3.2.2. Differences between groups were tested using Fisher’s exact test and Student’s t-test. The significance and strength of individual associations between WG (0-6 months) and WAZ at 6 months with independent variables were tested conducting simple linear regression (breastfeeding duration) and Spearman’s correlation (EBF, average monthly household income, maternal education, employment and number of household members). RESULTS: There were no significant differences in gender distribution with regards to location, breastfeeding duration, EBF duration and delivery mode. However, a significant difference (p<0.05) between genders in weight at 6 months has been recorded. Although there was no significant association of breastfeeding duration with WG (0-6 months) and WAZ at 6 months, monthly household income was associated with both and maternal education with WAZ at 6 months. There was also a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between women from mainland and from the islands in average monthly household income and EBF duration. CONCLUSION: Maternal SES is a strong predictor of infant weight gain in the child’s first months in Dalmatia, Croatia and mothers from the islands breastfeed their infants exclusively for a longer period of time.

Nutrition during infancy ; growth patterns ; CRIBS

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