Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 57-05.

Advisers: Rafael Perez-Escamilla; Gabriela Buccini.

Objective: To identify modifiable risk factors associated with non-early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) interruption in Colombia.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with 17,756 infants that used data from the 2010 Colombia Demographic Health Survey (DHS), which is nationally representative. The analysis considered two outcomes: early initiation of breastfeeding (within the 1st hour post birth (N=13,567) and EBF among infants < 6 months (N=1,512). Prevalence ratios were obtained using Poisson regression analysis with robust error variance following a hierarchical modeling approach.

Results: Non-early initiation of breastfeeding was significantly associated with cesarean section delivery, 10 or more prenatal visits, primiparity, and infant low birth weight. Protective factors for non-early initiation of breastfeeding were: Mother no longer 'intending' to have the index child when becoming pregnant, rural residence, mother not living with partner, and low maternal education. EBF interruption was significantly associated with cesarean section delivery and infant prelacteal feeding. Several distal factors were identified as protective against EBF interruption including rural residence, mother no longer 'intending' to have the index child when becoming pregnant, and < 3 prenatal visits.

Conclusions: This study identified key modifiable determinants of non-early initiation of breastfeeding and EBF interruption related with Colombian health system. The modifiable risk factors identified through this study for improving the prevalence of early BF initiation and EBF can inform needed policy changes across sectors to improve breastfeeding outcomes in Colombia.