Breastfeeding patterns in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil: a survey of reasons for weaning.
This paper presents a preliminary profile of infant feeding practices in a peri-urban Amazonian community. A random sample of 180 households with at least one child under the age of five years were interviewed in 1996 as part of a maternal-child health survey conducted in a peri-urban neighborhood in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil. Since some households had more than one child under the age of five, data were collected for a total of 250 children. The results of the survey indicate that initiation of breastfeeding is nearly universal, with 96.0% of women breastfeeding their infants at birth. However, many mothers terminate breastfeeding before the recommended age. Forty-five percent of infants are weaned before six months and 62.0% are weaned before 12 months. The survey also reveals that mothers give supplemental food and drink at an early age. Finally, while women give a variety of responses for why breastfeeding was terminated, the most common answer (42.0%) was that the infant refused the breast. The meaning and implications of this response merit further investigation.
Wayland
Coral
C
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC 28205, USA. cwayland@email.uncc.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001938:Brazil; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D014886:Weaning