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Links Between Maternal Breast-Feeding Duration and Québec Infants’ Health: A Population-Based Study. Are the Effects Different for Poor Children?

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Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether the relationship between breastfeeding duration and the health status of 5-month-old Quebec infants differs by poverty status. Methods: Cross-sectional study of Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development data of a sample of 2223 infants who were 5 months old. Two infant health indicators were considered: presence of chronic diseases and hospitalization for at least one night since birth. Differences in the associations between infant health and breastfeeding duration according to poverty status were explored using a logistic regression model and controlling for children’s and mothers’ characteristics. Results: Infants of low-income mothers were breastfed less often and for shorter periods of time. At five months, they had poorer health compared with children from families with adequate income. However, a positive association between breastfeeding duration and these health indicators was observed and was independent of poverty level. There was no interaction between poverty level and breastfeeding duration for the two health indicators studied. Conclusions: The associations between maternal breastfeeding for 4 months or more and both hospitalizations before 5 months of age and chronic diseases are independent of family income level. However, low-income mothers breastfeed less often and for shorter periods of time. Interventions intended to promote and support breastfeeding should especially target mothers living in poverty conditions.

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Notes

  1. Very few low-income mothers (8%) breast-fed exclusively for more than 9 weeks. For the purpose of our analysis, we therefore used a definition of breast-feeding that includes exclusive and mixed breast-feeding.

  2. For example, for 2-person household in Montreal, the pre-tax low-income cut-off (base year 1992) set by Statistics Canada for reference year 1998 was $22,357.

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Acknowledgements

This study was made possible by a research grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP-77835-PSB-CFCA-32950).

We would like to extend our warmest thanks to Qian Xu, MD, MSc, for her assistance and support, as well as to the Institut de la Statistique du Québec for allowing us to use some of its data. We would also like to express our gratitude to the “Santé et développement des enfants du Québec” project for the research grant that enabled us to carry out this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    Ramata Coulibaly MD, MSc, Louise Séguin, Maria-Victoria Zunzunegui & Lise Gauvin

  2. Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7

    Louise Séguin

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  1. Ramata Coulibaly MD, MSc
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  2. Louise Séguin
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  3. Maria-Victoria Zunzunegui
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  4. Lise Gauvin
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Correspondence to Louise Séguin.

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Coulibaly, R., Séguin, L., Zunzunegui, MV. et al. Links Between Maternal Breast-Feeding Duration and Québec Infants’ Health: A Population-Based Study. Are the Effects Different for Poor Children?. Matern Child Health J 10, 537–543 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-006-0114-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-006-0114-y

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