title: Breastfeeding rates among singletons, twins and triplets in Japan: A population-based study.
abstract: This study was performed to determine the rates of breastfeeding among singletons, twins and triplets in Japan, and identify factors associated with the decision to breastfeed or bottle-feed. We analyzed a database of medical check-up of infants aged 3 to 6 months between April 2001 and July 2004 in Nishinomiya City in Japan. This medical check-up is given to almost 100% of infants in Japan and the data of 15,262 infants were analyzed. Among these, 14,963 (98.0%) were singletons, 290 (1.9%) were twins and 9 (0.1%) were triplets. Exclusive breast-feeding was chosen by 6680 (43.8%) mothers, mixed-feeding by 4645 (30.4%) mothers, and bottle-feeding with formula milk only by 3900 (25.6%) mothers. The rate of exclusive breastfeeding among twins or triplets was significantly lower than among singleton babies: 4.1% among twins or triplets, and 44.7% among singletons. Moreover, twins and triplets were independently associated with a higher rate of bottle-feeding: the odds ratio indicated that mothers who had twins or triplets were 2.44 times more likely to choose bottle-feeding with formula milk only than those who had singletons. Sucking ability at birth was associated with a higher rate of bottle-feeding: the odds ratio indicated that mothers who had infants with poor sucking ability at birth were 1.56 times more likely to choose bottle-feeding as those who had infants with normal sucking ability.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Okayama University Medical School, Okayama City, Japan. yyoko@md.okayama-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoshie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Saeko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sono
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D011272:Pregnancy, Multiple / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies