Factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months among caregivers of children under five years in northern Ghana: A cross-sectional study.

Autor:	Thompson GH; Division of Global Research, Family Health International 360, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America., Sefa E; Ghana Accelerating Social and Behavior Change Project, Family Health International 360, Accra, Ghana., Deshpande AS; Division of Global Research, Family Health International 360, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America., Mensah R; Ghana Accelerating Social and Behavior Change Project, Family Health International 360, Accra, Ghana., Lenzi-Weisbecker R; Division of Global Research, Family Health International 360, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America., Wilder R; Division of Human Development, Family Health International 360, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America., Pennas T; Division of Human Development, Family Health International 360, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America., Martinez A; Division of Global Research, Family Health International 360, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America., Boadi KK; Ghana Accelerating Social and Behavior Change Project, Family Health International 360, Accra, Ghana., Abdul-Hamid A; Ghana Accelerating Social and Behavior Change Project, Family Health International 360, Accra, Ghana., Asabire G; Ghana Ministry of Health, Health Promotion Division, Accra, Ghana., Aboagye D; Ghana Ministry of Health, Health Promotion Division, Accra, Ghana., Yakubu E; Saha Consulting and Services Limited, Accra, Ghana., Abubakari A; School of Public Health, Department of Global and International Health, University for Development Studies, Accra, Ghana., Mensah DY; Tally Graduate School of Dominion University College, Accra, Ghana.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	PLOS global public health [PLOS Glob Public Health] 2024 Nov 14; Vol. 4 (11), pp. e0003887. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 14 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pgph.0003887
Abstrakt:	Despite consistent evidence highlighting the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months, EBF duration sometimes falls short of six months or exceeds it. This research seeks to explore factors influencing the practice of optimal duration of EBF and identify factors associated with suboptimal EBF durations. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 16 districts across four Northern regions of Ghana with 2000 caregivers of children under five years old. The analysis specifically focused on a subset of 1761 biological mothers. Logistic regression was conducted to discern socio-demographic, care-seeking, and behavioral determinants influencing the practice of EBF for a six-month duration. Additionally, multinomial logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with suboptimal EBF durations, categorized as less than and beyond six months. All biological mothers breastfed their youngest child, varying in durations: 75% exclusively breastfed for six months, 19.2% for less than six months, and 5.9% for beyond six months. Several behavioral determinants influenced EBF for six months, with biological mothers ' confidence in their ability to EBF (aOR: 6.8 95% CI, 4.13-11.33), willingness to recommend EBF practice to friends and family (aOR: 10.5 95% CI, 4.13-26.62) and perception of practicing EBF as normative in the community showing statistically significant associations (aOR: 6.3, 95% CI, 4.41-9.10). Education and religion of biological mothers were also significantly associated with EBF for six months. While there was overlap in behavioral factors associated with EBF for less than and beyond six months, the socio-demographic characteristics of biological mothers associated with these suboptimal durations of EBF differed. Among the factors included in this study, social norms, caregiver confidence, and approval of EBF were key factors influencing the recommended duration of EBF practices. These findings highlight the importance of community and cultural contexts in shaping biological mothers' behavior and emphasize the need to address socio-cultural barriers and facilitators that influence EBF practices, as well as empower biological mothers to adopt and sustain these practices. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. (Copyright: © 2024 Thompson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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