title: The epidemiology of breast-feeding in Mexico: rural vs. urban areas.
abstract: This article summarizes published and unpublished data on breast-feeding in Mexico collected between 1958 and 1987. These data suggest that Mexican rates of initiation of breast-feeding (78-83%) are among the lowest found in developing countries, that the median duration of breast-feeding in 1987 was virtually the same as it had been in 1976, and that about half of all Mexican infants are not breast-fed beyond six months of age. A finding that the duration of breast-feeding was shortest in urban areas has important policy implications, since 72% of the population lives in urban zones.
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Department, University of California, Davis 95616.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perez-Escamilla
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Dewey
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D012424:Rural Population; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population