title: Factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding practices among mothers in dubti town, afar regional state, northeast Ethiopia: a community based cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life is recommended internationally. This study aimed to investigate exclusive breastfeeding practices and associated factors among mothers of infants aged less than 6 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  A community based cross-sectional study was conducted on mother-infant pairs in Dubti town in May, 2015. In this study, exclusive breastfeeding was defined as an infant's breast milk consumption without supplementation of any type of food or drink, except for vitamins, minerals and necessary medications in the 24 h preceding the survey. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis were employed to identify the factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding practices. Variables with a p-value < 0.05 in the multivariable model were identified as predictors of exclusive breastfeeding practices.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months was practiced by 81.1 % (95 % Confidence Interval [CI] 77.0, 85.0 %) of mothers of infants aged less than 6 months. The median duration of exclusive breastfeeding for infants less than 6 months was 3 months. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that initiation of breastfeeding within 1 h after birth (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 5.46; 95 % CI 1.93, 15.41), age of infants of less than 2 months (AOR 7.03; 95 % CI 2.16, 22.88), being a housewife (AOR 4.81; 95 % CI 2.30, 10.06) and mothers who received postnatal counseling (AOR 3.88; 95 % CI 1.88, 7.99) were positive predictors of exclusive breastfeeding.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study revealed that exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months using 24-h recall method was lower than the World Health Organization recommendation. Therefore, interventions could focus on educating mothers the importance of timely initiation of breastfeeding and postnatal care in the study area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Medical and Health Sciences, Samara University, Afar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Misgan Legesse
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Liben
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, College of Medical and Health Sciences, Samara University, Afar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Yohannes Bacha
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Gemechu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Mulugeta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adugnew
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Adugnaw
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asrade
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Belete
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Adamie
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Ehitemelak
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gebremedin
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Yibel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Melak
keywords: Afar; Dubti; Exclusive breastfeeding; Northeast Ethiopia; Town