Taha Zainab, Garemo Malin, Nanda Joy
1Department of Health Sciences, Zayed University, PO Box 144534, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
2The John Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD USA.
Int Breastfeed J. 2018 Nov 16;13:48. doi: 10.1186/s13006-018-0192-7. eCollection 2018.
Despite the ongoing efforts to improve infant feeding practices, low rates of breastfeeding and early introduction of complementary feeding have been reported in many countries. Systematic documentation of breastfeeding practices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is needed in order to directing successful strategies. The aim of this study was to evaluate breastfeeding practices among mothers in Abu Dhabi, UAE, using the World Health Organization (WHO) infant and young child feeding indicators.
In this cross-sectional study, mothers of children below the age of two were recruited from the community and health centers located in different areas in Abu Dhabi. Following informed consent, a structured questionnaire including WHO-indicators was used for in-person interviews on sociodemographics and breastfeeding. Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) was calculated as the percentage of babies 0 - < 6 months of age who had been exclusively breastfed in the last 24 h.
A total of 1822 mothers participated in the study; 95.6% (1741/1822) of mothers initiated breastfeeding and 59.8% (1089/1822) initiated breastfeeding within the first hour. Exclusive breastfeeding among infants 0-6 months was 44.3% (362/818). Although the median duration of "any breastfeeding" was 12 months (95% CI 11.2, 12.7), the median duration of EBF was 3 months (95% CI 2.8, 3.3). Most of the children (894/1004, 89%) aged 6 months and above were receiving complementary feeding, but 21.7% (218/1004) of them had had an early introduction of complementary feeding, i.e. before 6 months of age. Using "the WHO infant and young child feeding indicators" as standard for comparative evaluation, breastfeeding initiation was rated "good", the proportion of children being exclusively breastfed until 6 months was rated "fair" and the duration of EBF was considered "poor".
According to the WHO infant feeding indicators the breastfeeding practices were suboptimal in several aspects with a low proportion of children being exclusively breastfed, short breastfeeding duration and early introduction of complementary feeding, despite high socioeconomic status. These findings suggest that there is a need to understand potential barriers towards breastfeeding in order to develop appropriate strategies to promote and support breastfeeding in Abu Dhabi.
尽管一直在努力改善婴儿喂养方式，但许多国家仍报告母乳喂养率较低且过早引入辅食。为了制定成功的策略，需要对阿拉伯联合酋长国（阿联酋）的母乳喂养情况进行系统记录。本研究的目的是使用世界卫生组织（WHO）的婴幼儿喂养指标，评估阿联酋阿布扎比母亲的母乳喂养情况。
在这项横断面研究中，从阿布扎比不同地区的社区和健康中心招募了两岁以下儿童的母亲。在获得知情同意后，使用包含WHO指标的结构化问卷对社会人口统计学和母乳喂养情况进行面对面访谈。纯母乳喂养（EBF）的计算方法是过去24小时内纯母乳喂养的0至<6月龄婴儿的百分比。
共有1822名母亲参与了该研究；95.6%（1741/1822）的母亲开始母乳喂养，59.8%（1089/1822）的母亲在第一小时内开始母乳喂养。0至6月龄婴儿的纯母乳喂养率为44.3%（362/818）。尽管“任何形式母乳喂养”的中位持续时间为12个月（95%CI 11.2，12.7），但纯母乳喂养的中位持续时间为3个月（95%CI 2.8，3.3）。大多数6个月及以上的儿童（894/1004，89%）正在接受辅食喂养，但其中21.7%（218/1004）过早引入了辅食喂养，即在6月龄之前。以“WHO婴幼儿喂养指标”作为比较评估的标准，母乳喂养的开始情况被评为“良好”，6个月前纯母乳喂养儿童的比例被评为“中等”，纯母乳喂养的持续时间被认为“较差”。
根据WHO婴幼儿喂养指标，尽管社会经济地位较高，但母乳喂养情况在几个方面仍不理想，纯母乳喂养儿童比例较低、母乳喂养持续时间短且过早引入辅食喂养。这些发现表明，有必要了解母乳喂养的潜在障碍，以便制定适当的策略来促进和支持阿布扎比的母乳喂养。
