Pérez-Escamilla R
Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis 95616-8669.
Bull Pan Am Health Organ. 1993;27(1):32-42.
This article uses data from demographic and health surveys carried out in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries between 1984 and 1988 to compare breast-feeding patterns in those countries, where findings indicate that 6% to 23% of the infants are not breast-fed beyond two months of age. Although wide variations in breast-feeding patterns occurred, a number of general trends were noted. To begin with, the mean rate of breast-feeding declined relatively fast in one group of countries (Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago), where half the infants surveyed had been weaned from the breast well before their first birthday. This differs from the situation found in the other four countries (Bolivia, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Peru), where half the infants were still being breast-fed during their second year of life. Within each of the nine countries, the mean breast-feeding duration was longer in rural than in urban areas and among women with relatively low levels of education. The direction of these relationships was similar when analyses were performed across countries. In addition, a strong inverse relationship was found between the percentage of births attended by health workers in the countries surveyed and the mean duration of breast-feeding in those countries.
本文使用了1984年至1988年间在九个拉丁美洲和加勒比国家进行的人口与健康调查数据，以比较这些国家的母乳喂养模式，调查结果显示，6%至23%的婴儿在两个月龄后不再进行母乳喂养。尽管母乳喂养模式存在很大差异，但仍发现了一些总体趋势。首先，在一组国家（巴西、哥伦比亚、多米尼加共和国、墨西哥和特立尼达和多巴哥）中，母乳喂养的平均比率下降相对较快，在这些国家接受调查的婴儿中有一半在一岁生日前就已断奶。这与其他四个国家（玻利维亚、危地马拉、厄瓜多尔和秘鲁）的情况不同，在这四个国家中，一半的婴儿在两岁时仍在接受母乳喂养。在这九个国家中的每一个国家，农村地区的平均母乳喂养持续时间都比城市地区长，且在教育水平相对较低的女性中也是如此。当对各国进行分析时，这些关系的方向是相似的。此外，在所调查国家中，卫生工作者接生的分娩百分比与这些国家的平均母乳喂养持续时间之间存在强烈的负相关关系。
