Dataset Information

Breastfeeding in Iran: prevalence, duration and current recommendations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The need to promote breastfeeding is unquestionable for the health and development of infants. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence, duration and promotion of breastfeeding status in Iran with respect to the Baby Friendly Hospital, government actions and activities by the Breastfeeding Promotion Society including comparison with European countries.

Methods

This retrospective study is based on data from 63,071 infants less than 24 months of age in all the 30 urban and rural provinces of Iran. The data of breastfeeding rates were collected in 20052006 by trained health workers in the Integrated Monitoring Evaluation System in the Family Health Office of the Ministry of Health to evaluate its subordinate offices. A translated version of a questionnaire, used to assess the current breastfeeding situation in Europe, was used.

Results

At a national level, 90% and 57% of infants were breastfed at one and two-years of age, respectively. Exclusive breastfeeding rates at 4 and 6 months of age at national level averaged 56.8% and 27.7%. Exclusive breastfeeding rates at 4 and 6 months of age in rural areas were 58% and 29%, and in urban areas 56% and 27%, respectively. The policy questionnaire showed that out of the 566 hospitals across the country 466 hospitals were accredited as Baby Friendly Hospitals, covering more than 80% of the births in 2006. A national board set standards and certified pre-service education at the Ministry of Health. Iran officially adopted the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes in 1991. The legislation for working mothers met the International Labour Organization standards that cover women with formal employment. The Ministry of Health and Breastfeeding Promotion Society were responsible for producing booklets, pamphlets, breastfeeding journal, CD, workshops and websites. Monitoring of breastfeeding rates was performed every four years and funded by the Ministry of Health within the budgets assigned to the health care system.

Conclusion

In comparison to many European Union countries, Iran showed a favorable situation in terms of breastfeeding rates and promotion of breastfeeding. Iran still needs to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months.

SUBMITTER: Olang B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2734342 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Breastfeeding in Iran: prevalence, duration and current recommendations.

Olang Beheshteh B Farivar Khalil K Heidarzadeh Abtin A Strandvik Birgitta B Yngve Agneta A

International breastfeeding journal 20090805

<h4>Background</h4>The need to promote breastfeeding is unquestionable for the health and development of infants. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence, duration and promotion of breastfeeding status in Iran with respect to the Baby Friendly Hospital, government actions and activities by the Breastfeeding Promotion Society including comparison with European countries.<h4>Methods</h4>This retrospective study is based on data from 63,071 infants less than 24 months of age in all the ...[more]

PMID: 19656361

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Project description:OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study is to assess the Breastfeeding Duration, Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration and other related factors among children aged less than 5 years old in rural areas of Northern Iran. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional conducted on 2520 children aged 6-60 months (male: 1309, female: 1211) chosen by cluster random sampling from 20 out of 118 villages. Data were collected from mothers using a questionnaire. The duration of breastfeeding was computed only for children aged over 24 months old. Breastfeeding duration and Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration were classified based on WHO definition. SPSS Version 16 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration was 5.59 months, while 66.4% of children had exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 months. The lowest Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration and the highest Breastfeeding Duration were observed among the Turkman ethnic group. Exclusive Breastfeeding duration of at least 5 months was 14.6%, thus the results were significantly higher than in the Turkman ethnic group (p=0.001). Meanwhile, the results showed that exclusive breastfeeding duration significantly increased with maternal education level (p=0.004). The study found that the mean breastfeeding duration was 20.6 months, and 89.3% and 74.7% of children were breastfed for at least 18 and 24 months, respectively. A positive correlation was reported between breastfeeding duration and family size, birth order, maternal age and children nutritional status, (p<0.05). Additionally, lactation period in underweight children was significantly higher than in obese children, (p=0.023). CONCLUSION: The study found that two-thirds of children exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life and the mean breastfeeding duration was 20.6 months. While both exclusive breastfeeding duration and breastfeeding duration were influenced by socio-demographic factors in the rural areas of Northern Iran.

Project description:BackgroundBreastfeeding has important positive long-term health consequences for infants and mothers. The World Health Organization recommends that all infants should be exclusively breastfed for six months or longer, and advises continuation of breastfeeding for two years or beyond. However, these recommendations are not met in many countries. This study examined whether a comprehensive, evidence-based breastfeeding intervention, the Breastfeeding Support Programme (BSP), promotes prolonged duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding among its participants.MethodsA quasi-experimental design was used to compare breastfeeding duration and exclusivity in the BSP group (N = 66) to breastfeeding duration and exclusivity in a control group (N = 72). Participants who followed the BSP were provided with 6 consults delivered by a lactation consultant. The consults started during pregnancy and continued up until 10 weeks after delivery. Participants in the control group did not follow the BSP. Pretest and posttest questionnaires were administered through the internet. A Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for cessation of any and exclusive breastfeeding, while controlling for differences at baseline.ResultsThe effect of the BSP on survival rates for any and exclusive breastfeeding were significant while controlling for differences between the two groups at baseline (respectively HR = 0.34, p < .001 [95% CI = 0.18-0.61] and HR = 0.46, p < .001 [95% CI = 0.29-0.72]). Among mothers in the BSP group there was on average 66% less risk of cessation of any breastfeeding and on average 54% less risk of cessation of exclusive breastfeeding at any point in time compared to those in the control group.ConclusionsThe BSP appears to be an effective means to delay cessation of any and exclusive breastfeeding cessation and therefore to increase breastfeeding duration and exclusivity. This is an important finding, because earlier cessation of breastfeeding than desired is a common problem in many countries. Future research into the effectiveness of the BSP could consider random assignment to conditions and test the effectiveness of the intervention in other populations to investigate further whether wide-scale implementation of this intervention could be useful to promote breastfeeding.

Dataset Information

Breastfeeding in Iran: prevalence, duration and current recommendations.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Breastfeeding in Iran: prevalence, duration and current recommendations.

Similar Datasets

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