Council tax valuation band predicts breast feeding and socio-economic status in the ALSPAC study population.
BACKGROUND
Breast-feeding rates in the UK are known to vary by maternal socio-economic status but the latter function is imperfectly defined. We test if CTVB (Council Tax Valuation Band - a categorical assessment of UK property values and amenities governing local tax levies) of maternal address predicts, in a large UK regional sample of births, (a) breast-feeding (b) personal and socio-economic attributes of the mothers.


METHODS
Retrospective study of a subset (n.1390 selected at random) of the ALSPAC sample (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children), a large, geographically defined cohort of mothers followed from early pregnancy to 8 weeks post-delivery. Outcome measures are attitudes to breast-feeding prior to delivery, breast-feeding intention and uptake, demographic and socio-economic attributes of the mothers, CTVB of maternal home address at the time of each birth. Logistic regression analysis, categorical tests.


RESULTS



METHODS
1360 women divided across the CTVBs--at least 155 in any band or band aggregation. CTVB predicted only one belief or attitude--that bottle-feeding was more convenient for the mother. However only 31% of 'CTVB A infants' are fully breast fed at 4 weeks of life whereas for 'CTVB E+ infants' the rate is 57%. CTVB is also strongly associated with maternal social class, home conditions, parental educational attainment, family income and smoking habit.


CONCLUSIONS
CTVB predicts breast-feeding rates and links them with social circumstances. CTVB could be used as the basis for accurate resource allocation for community paediatric services: UK breast-feeding rates are low and merit targeted promotion.
Beale
Norman
N
Northlands R & D General Practice, Calne, SN11 0HH, UK. info@northlandsrnd.org.uk
Kane
Gill
G
Gwynne
Mark
M
Peart
Carole
C
Taylor
Gordon
G
Herrick
David
D
Boyd
Andy
A
D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010067:Ownership / Q000191:economics*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000145:classification*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013660:Taxes; D006113:United Kingdom