PMID- 38124065
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20231222
LR  - 20231223
IS  - 1746-4358 (Electronic)
IS  - 1746-4358 (Linking)
VI  - 18
IP  - 1
DP  - 2023 Dec 20
TI  - Exclusive breastfeeding practices and its determinants in Indian infants: 
      findings from the National Family Health Surveys-4 and 5.
PG  - 69
LID - 10.1186/s13006-023-00602-z [doi]
LID - 69
AB  - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive 
      breastfeeding (EBF) in infants for the first 6 months of life. This analysis aims 
      to estimate the proportion of Indian infants exclusively breastfed for the first 
      6 months using the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS)-4 and 5, and further, 
      determine factors associated with EBF practices. METHODS: EBF for this analysis 
      was defined as when infants received only breast milk and no complementary feeds 
      (solid food, water, animal milk, baby formula, juice, and fortified food) in the 
      last 24 h prior to the survey. The proportion of infants exclusively breastfed 
      was plotted from birth to 6 months as per the age of children at the time of the 
      survey, and this was computed for individual states, union territories, and 
      overall, for India. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses 
      were performed to examine factors influencing EBF in Indian infants. RESULTS: The 
      proportion of Indian infants exclusively breastfed for 6 months was 31.3% 
      (1280/4095; 95% CI 29.9, 32.7) and 43% (1657/3853; 95% CI 41.4, 44.6) as per the 
      NFHS-4 and 5 surveys, respectively. In NFHS-5, infants of scheduled tribes (aOR 
      1.5; 95% CI 1.2, 1.9) and mothers who delivered at public health facilities (aOR 
      1.3; 95% CI 1.1, 1.5) showed an increased odds of being exclusively breastfed at 
      6 months of life compared to their counterparts. Further, infants of mothers 
      aged < 20 years (aOR 0.5; 95% CI 0.4, 0.7), low birth weight infants (aOR 0.6; 
      95% CI 0.4, 0.8), and infants in whom breastfeeding was initiated one hour after 
      birth (aOR 0.8; 95% CI 0.7, 0.9) showed a reduced odds of being exclusively 
      breastfed at 6 months compared to their counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: The overall 
      EBF practice showed an increasing trend in the NFHS-5 compared to the NFHS-4 
      survey. However, a vast gap remains unaddressed in the Indian setting with > 50% 
      of the population still not exclusively breastfeeding their infants for the WHO 
      recommended duration of first 6 months. Behavioral studies dissecting the complex 
      interplay of factors influencing EBF within the heterogenous Indian population 
      can help plan interventions to promote and scale-up EBF in Indian infants.
CI  - (c) 2023. The Author(s).
FAU - Reddy N, Samarasimha
AU  - Reddy N S
AD  - Division of Clinical Epidemiology, ICMR - National Institute of Nutrition, 
      Hyderabad, Telangana, 500007, India.
FAU - Dharmaraj, Aravind
AU  - Dharmaraj A
AD  - The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, 
      Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632004, India.
FAU - Jacob, Jovis
AU  - Jacob J
AD  - Division of Clinical Epidemiology, ICMR - National Institute of Nutrition, 
      Hyderabad, Telangana, 500007, India.
FAU - Sindhu, Kulandaipalayam Natarajan
AU  - Sindhu KN
AD  - The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, 
      Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632004, India. 
      sindhubalakumar@gmail.com.
LA  - eng
GR  - BT/kiData0393/06/18/Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and 
      Technology, Government of India, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20231220
PL  - England
TA  - Int Breastfeed J
JT  - International breastfeeding journal
JID - 101251562
SB  - IM
MH  - Infant
MH  - Female
MH  - Child
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Breast Feeding
MH  - *Mothers
MH  - Surveys and Questionnaires
MH  - Milk, Human
MH  - Health Surveys
PMC - PMC10731841
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Exclusive breastfeeding
OT  - Factors
OT  - India
OT  - Infants
OT  - National Family Health Survey
COIS- The authors declare no competing interests.
EDAT- 2023/12/21 06:42
MHDA- 2023/12/22 06:42
PMCR- 2023/12/20
CRDT- 2023/12/21 00:01
PHST- 2023/08/10 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/11/25 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/12/22 06:42 [medline]
PHST- 2023/12/21 06:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/12/21 00:01 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/12/20 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1186/s13006-023-00602-z [pii]
AID - 602 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/s13006-023-00602-z [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Int Breastfeed J. 2023 Dec 20;18(1):69. doi: 10.1186/s13006-023-00602-z.