Naslov
Influence of 1991-1995 War on Breast-feeding in Croatia: Questionnaire Study

Autori
Zakanj, Zora ; Armano, Giovana ; Grgurić, Josip ; Herceg-Čavrak, Vesna

Izvornik
Croatian medical journal (0353-9504) 41 (2000), 2; 186-190

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
breast-feeding; child nutrition; Croatia; food suplth education; humanitarianism; infant nutrition; milk; human; war
(breast-feeding; child nutrition; Croatia; food supply; health education; humanitarianism; infant nutrition; milk; human; war)

Sažetak
Aim. To investigate the influence of 1991-1995 war on the prevalence, duration, and practice of breastfeeding Croatian children up to 5 years of age. Method. In 1996, interviews were conducted in households with children up to 2 years of age (757 children)and 2-5 years of age (1.180 children). Data for war-free arias, war-affected areas, and areas liberated after several years of occupation were analyzed separately. Results. In 1996, 94.6% of mothers started breastfeeding, which lasted for an acerage of 3.4+/-2.9 months. The proportion of mothers who started breastfeeding did not vary with respect to either war-related or geographic areas of the country. Breastfeeding was significantly longer in war-free than in war-affected areas (3.7+/-3.1 vs. 2.7+/-2.1 months, respectively ; p is 0.015). The duration of breastfeeding in Croatia's geographic regions, Istria, Hrvatsko Primorje and Gorski kotar was significantly longer than in Slavonia (3.9+/-3.4 vs. 3.4+/-3.0, respectively ; p is 0.037). On the country level, 49.4% of babies were fed on demand and 43.3% according to a daily schedule. The percent of children who were not breastfed was significantly higher (p is 0.002) in the older age group (2-5 years of age, 9.3%) than in the younger age group (up to 2 years of age, 5.4%) Conclusions. The war decreased the prevalence and duration of breastfeeding, which might be related to regular humanitarian donations of infant food and mother's milk substitutes, especially in the war-affected areas. UNICEF breatfeeding campaign, which started in 1993, appeared to be effective.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Kliničke medicinske znanosti

POVEZANOST RADA