Estimating the Prevalence of Exclusive Breastfeeding with Data from Household Surveys: Measurement Issues and Options

Overview

Journal Front Nutr

Specialty Nutritional Sciences

Date 2023 Apr 10

PMID 37032782

Authors

Thomas W Pullum

Karleen Gribble

Seema Mihrshahi

Bindi Borg

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The importance of breastfeeding for infant and maternal health is well established. The World Health Organization recommends that all infants be exclusively breastfed until they reach 6 months of age. The standard indicator to measure adherence to this criterion is the percentage of children aged 0-5 months who are currently being exclusively breastfed. This paper proposes supplementary measures that are easily calculated with existing survey data. First, for an accurate assessment of the WHO recommendation, we estimate the percentage of infants who are being exclusively breastfed at the exact age of 6 months. Second, an adjustment is proposed for prelacteal feeding. These two modifications, separately and in combination, are applied to data from 31 low-and middle-income countries that have participated in the Demographic and Health Surveys Program since 2015. There is considerable variation in the effects across countries. The modifications use existing data to provide a more accurate estimate than the standard indicator of the achievement of the exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months recommendation.

Citing Articles

Measuring breastfeeding prevalence using demographic and health surveys.

Chabe-Ferret B BMC Public Health. 2024; 24(1):2366.

PMID: 39217282 PMC: 11365256. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-19821-y.

Comparative Assessment of Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates From 24-Hour Recall and Since Birth Methods in Southwestern Pennsylvania Using Ecological Momentary Assessment.

Isiguzo C, Documet P, Demirci J, Youk A, Mendez G, Davis E J Hum Lact. 2023; 39(4):584-594.

PMID: 37675868 PMC: 11219032. DOI: 10.1177/08903344231193734.

References

Neves P, Vaz J, Ricardo L, Armenta-Paulino N, Barros A, Richter L . Disparities in early initiation of breast feeding and prelacteal feeding: A study of low- and middle-income countries. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2022; 36(5):741-749. DOI: 10.1111/ppe.12871. View

Hussein T, Mgongo M, Uriyo J, Damian D, Stray-Pedersen B, Msuya S . Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates and Factors Associated with Exclusive Breastfeeding Practices in Northern Tanzania: Measurement using Two Different Methodologies-24 Hours Recall and Recall Since Birth. Int J MCH AIDS. 2019; 8(1):32-43. PMC: 6487506. DOI: 10.21106/ijma.258. View

Patel A, Bucher S, Pusdekar Y, Esamai F, Krebs N, Goudar S . Rates and determinants of early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breast feeding at 42 days postnatal in six low and middle-income countries: A prospective cohort study. Reprod Health. 2015; 12 Suppl 2:S10. PMC: 4464210. DOI: 10.1186/1742-4755-12-S2-S10. View

Bland R, Rollins N, Solarsh G, Van den Broeck J, Coovadia H . Maternal recall of exclusive breast feeding duration. Arch Dis Child. 2003; 88(9):778-83. PMC: 1719625. DOI: 10.1136/adc.88.9.778. View

McGuire S . World Health Organization. Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition. Geneva, Switzerland, 2014. Adv Nutr. 2015; 6(1):134-5. PMC: 4288273. DOI: 10.3945/an.114.007781. View

Launer L, Forman M, Hundt G, Sarov B, Chang D, BERENDES H . Maternal recall of infant feeding events is accurate. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1992; 46(3):203-6. PMC: 1059550. DOI: 10.1136/jech.46.3.203. View

Brewster D . Prelacteal versus early infant feeding and morbidity in Timor-Leste. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2014; 59(2):155-6. DOI: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000000435. View

Abdel-Hady D, El-Gilany A . Calculating Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates: Comparing Dietary "24-Hour Recall" with Recall "Since Birth" Methods. Breastfeed Med. 2016; 11:514-518. DOI: 10.1089/bfm.2016.0032. View

Andarge S, Fenta E, Gebreyesus S, Belachew R . One-week recall period gives a more accurate estimate of exclusive breastfeeding practice than 24-h recall among infants younger than six months of age. Int Breastfeed J. 2021; 16(1):65. PMC: 8403454. DOI: 10.1186/s13006-021-00411-2. View

10.

Raina S, Mengi V, Singh G . Determinants of Prelacteal Feeding Among Infants of RS Pura Block of Jammu and Kashmir, India. J Family Med Prim Care. 2014; 1(1):27-9. PMC: 3893951. DOI: 10.4103/2249-4863.94446. View

11.

Nguyen P, Keithly S, Nguyen N, Nguyen T, Tran L, Hajeebhoy N . Prelacteal feeding practices in Vietnam: challenges and associated factors. BMC Public Health. 2013; 13:932. PMC: 4126174. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-932. View

12.

Louis-Jacques A, Stuebe A . Enabling Breastfeeding to Support Lifelong Health for Mother and Child. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am. 2020; 47(3):363-381. DOI: 10.1016/j.ogc.2020.04.001. View

13.

Gribble K . Mechanisms behind breastmilk's protection against, and artificial baby milk's facilitation of, diarrhoeal illness. Breastfeed Rev. 2011; 19(2):19-26. View

14.

Lamberti L, Fischer Walker C, Noiman A, Victora C, Black R . Breastfeeding and the risk for diarrhea morbidity and mortality. BMC Public Health. 2011; 11 Suppl 3:S15. PMC: 3231888. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-S3-S15. View

15.

Li R, Scanlon K, Serdula M . The validity and reliability of maternal recall of breastfeeding practice. Nutr Rev. 2005; 63(4):103-10. DOI: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2005.tb00128.x. View

16.

Granger C, Embleton N, Palmer J, Lamb C, Berrington J, Stewart C . Maternal breastmilk, infant gut microbiome and the impact on preterm infant health. Acta Paediatr. 2020; 110(2):450-457. DOI: 10.1111/apa.15534. View

17.

Lamberti L, Zakarija-Grkovic I, Fischer Walker C, Theodoratou E, Nair H, Campbell H . Breastfeeding for reducing the risk of pneumonia morbidity and mortality in children under two: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health. 2014; 13 Suppl 3:S18. PMC: 3847465. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-S3-S18. View

18.

Victora C, Bahl R, Barros A, Franca G, Horton S, Krasevec J . Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect. Lancet. 2016; 387(10017):475-90. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01024-7. View

19.

Pullum T . Exclusive breastfeeding: aligning the indicator with the goal. Glob Health Sci Pract. 2014; 2(3):355-6. PMC: 4168635. DOI: 10.9745/GHSP-D-14-00061. View

20.

Greiner T . Exclusive breastfeeding: measurement and indicators. Int Breastfeed J. 2014; 9:18. PMC: 4209171. DOI: 10.1186/1746-4358-9-18. View