title: Acculturation and Intention to Breastfeed among a Population of Predominantly Puerto Rican Women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Latinas have high overall breastfeeding initiation rates, yet Puerto Ricans have among the lowest exclusive breastfeeding rates. This study sought to determine if acculturation was associated with intent to breastfeed in a predominantly Puerto Rican population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of Latina women were enrolled in Proyecto Buena Salud, and provided information on infant feeding intent (n = 1,323). Acculturation was assessed via the Psychological Acculturation Scale (PAS), language preference, and generation in the United States.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Increasing acculturation as measured by English language preference (aOR 0.61 [95% CI 0.42-0.88]) and second or third generation in the United States (aOR 0.70 [95% CI 0.52-0.95)] was inversely associated with odds of intending to exclusively breastfeed. Similarly, women with higher levels of acculturation as measured by the PAS (aOR 0.67 [95% CI 0.45-0.99]), English language preference (aOR 0.48 [95% CI 0.33-0.70]) and second or third generation in the United States (aOR 0.42 [95% CI 0.31-0.58]) were less likely to report intent to combination feed as compared with women with lower acculturation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acculturation was inversely associated with intent to exclusively breastfeed and intent to combination feed in this predominantly Puerto Rican sample.
authors.affiliation: Yale University School of Nursing, Orange, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Barcelona de Mendoza
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Harville
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Theall
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Buekens
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chasan-Taber
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D016015:Logistic Models; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hispanic; Latino; acculturation; breastfeeding; pregnancy