BACKGROUND The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life for optimal growth, development and health. Breastfeeding should continue up to two years or more and nutritionally adequate, safe, and appropriately-fed complementary foods should be introduced at the age of six months to meet the evolving needs of the growing infant. Little ev...

OBJECTIVES To describe breastfeeding practices and investigate the influence of exclusive breastfeeding in early infancy on the risk of infant deaths, especially those attributable to respiratory infections (ARI) and diarrhea. METHODS A prospective observational study was conducted on a birth cohort of 1677 infants who were born in slum areas of Dhaka in Bangladesh and followed from birth to ...

INTRODUCTION Breastfeeding is widely recommended. Updated data are needed to assess its prevalence and the effectiveness of interventions. Breastfeeding practices in Italy need to be promoted and monitored with updated and standard data The objective of this study is to provide estimates of the prevalence of breastfeeding and exclusively breastfeeding and to identify factors that may be modifie...

BACKGROUND Although gaps between breastfeeding awareness and practices have been described, determinants of the gaps have not been well investigated. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine determinants of the gap between breastfeeding awareness and practices in Vietnam. METHODS We interviewed 10,834 mothers with children aged 0-23 mo in 11 of 63 Vietnam provinces about breastfeeding...

BACKGROUND Breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices have profound implications for the maternal and child health status of a society. Feeding practices in Pakistan are suboptimal, leading to adverse outcomes on child health. In Pakistan, the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) Program, in collaboration with several international organizations, including WHO and UNICEF, is workin...

The Japanese health system places great emphasis on healthy development. However, the prevalence of Exclusive Breastfeeding at one month postpartum between 1980 and 2005 has remained unchanged, fluctuating between 42% and 49%. At the same time, the Any Breastfeeding prevalence has gradually increased from about 80% to 95%. In 2010, the latest national breastfeeding report showed that 'exclusive...

BACKGROUND Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended as the best feeding alternative for infants up to six months and has a protective effect against mortality and morbidity. It also seems to lower HIV-1 transmission compared to mixed feeding. We studied infant feeding practices comparing dietary recall since birth with 24-hour dietary recall. METHODS A cross-sectional survey on infant feeding p...

BACKGROUND The practice of exclusive breastfeeding depends on various factors related to both mothers and their environment, including the services delivered by health professionals. It is known that support and counseling by health professionals can improve rates, early initiation and total duration of breastfeeding, particularly exclusive breastfeeding. Mothers' decisions are influenced by he...

OBJECTIVES To assess knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding infant feeding among HIV-positive pregnant women in Gaborone, Botswana, and factors that influence their infant feeding choices. DESIGN A cross-sectional study. METHODS AND STUDY SETTING A questionnaire survey of 96 HIV-positive pregnant women attending four public infectious disease control clinics in Gaborone, Botswana. R...

Poor breastfeeding practices are widely documented in Kenya, where only a third of children are exclusively breastfed for 6 months and only 2% in urban poor settings. This study aimed to better understand the factors that contribute to poor breastfeeding practices in two urban slums in Nairobi, Kenya. In-depth interviews (IDIs), focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs)...