Lenja Ayele, Demissie Tsegaye, Yohannes Bereket, Yohannis Mulugeta
Integrated Family Health Program, Wolaita Sodo Cluster Office, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia.
Public Health Nutrition, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia.
Int Breastfeed J. 2016 Dec 9;11:32. doi: 10.1186/s13006-016-0091-8. eCollection 2016.
World Health Organization (WHO) recommends timely initiation of breastfeeding after birth and only feeding breast milk to infants during the first 6 months of life. It was estimated that exclusive breastfeeding can reduce infant deaths by 13%. The practice of exclusive breastfeeding is suboptimal in many parts of Ethiopia to a varied extent. Factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding practice and the proportion of its practice was not well documented in Offa district. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the determinants of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life in Offa district, Southern Ethiopia.
A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in 396 mothers of infants younger than 6 months using random sampling. Data were collected from mothers of the infants by trained interviewers. Exclusive breastfeeding was measured by the history of infant feeding in the prior 24 h. Pretested and structured questionnaires adopted from standard questionnaires and Ethiopia linkages modules were used. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors significantly influencing exclusive breastfeeding practice.
Based on findings of this study of 396 participants, the proportion of exclusive breastfeeding was 78.0% and awareness of exclusive breastfeeding and bottle feeding were 85.6 and 6.1% respectively. About 6% of infants were given prelacteal feeds. The number of infants fed cow milk was 12.9%, formula 7.8%, water 8.5%, fruits and semisolids 1.5%, over 24 h prior to the survey. The initiation of breastfeeding within one h (AOR 2.2; 95% CI 1.1, 4.27), attending formal education (AOR 4; 95% CI 2.20, 7.25), having an awareness on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding (AOR 6; 95% CI 3.10, 11.70) and knowledge of colostrum feeding (AOR 2.1; 95% CI 1.11, 4.27) had a statistically significant association with exclusive breastfeeding in the study area.
The practice of exclusive breastfeeding as well as awareness was worthy in Offa district. Additionally the proportion of bottle feeding use was small. However, feeding other than breast milk was associated with the perception that breast milk alone was insufficient for their child. Strategies on promoting exclusive breastfeeding practice must focus on strengthening women's education and awareness creation activities further.
世界卫生组织（WHO）建议婴儿出生后及时开始母乳喂养，并且在生命的前6个月仅给婴儿喂母乳。据估计，纯母乳喂养可降低13%的婴儿死亡率。在埃塞俄比亚的许多地区，纯母乳喂养的实施情况在不同程度上并不理想。在奥法区，与纯母乳喂养实施情况及其实施比例相关的因素尚未得到充分记录。因此，本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚南部奥法区婴儿出生后前6个月纯母乳喂养的决定因素。
采用随机抽样的方法，对396名6个月以下婴儿的母亲进行了一项基于社区的横断面研究。由经过培训的访谈员从婴儿母亲那里收集数据。通过婴儿前24小时的喂养史来衡量纯母乳喂养情况。采用了从标准问卷和埃塞俄比亚关联模块中预测试并结构化的问卷。使用多变量逻辑回归来确定显著影响纯母乳喂养实施情况的因素。
基于对396名参与者的这项研究结果，纯母乳喂养的比例为78.0%，对纯母乳喂养和奶瓶喂养的知晓率分别为85.6%和6.1%。约6%的婴儿在开奶前喂了其他食物。在调查前的24小时内，喂牛奶的婴儿比例为12.9%，喂配方奶的为7.8%，喂水的为8.5%，喂水果和半固体食物的为1.5%。在1小时内开始母乳喂养（调整后比值比[AOR]为2.2；95%置信区间[CI]为1.1，4.27）、接受正规教育（AOR为4；95%CI为2.20，7.25）、知晓纯母乳喂养的益处（AOR为6；95%CI为3.10，11.70）以及了解初乳喂养知识（AOR为2.1；95%CI为1.11，4.27）与研究地区的纯母乳喂养在统计学上有显著关联。
在奥法区，纯母乳喂养的实施情况以及知晓率都值得肯定。此外，奶瓶喂养的使用比例较小。然而，非母乳喂养与认为仅靠母乳不足以满足孩子需求的观念有关。促进纯母乳喂养实施的策略必须进一步侧重于加强妇女教育和提高认识活动。
