|
Advertisement
*********************************************************************************
General Health
THE
HEALTH BEHAVIOR NEWS SERVICE:
July 23, 2003
EDUCATION, WORKING STATUS AFFECT LIKELIHOOD OF BREASTFEEDING
By Aaron Levin, Staff Writer
Health Behavior News Service
Rural mothers who work fulltime and do not have advanced education are less
likely to breastfeed their babies than nonworking women who have college
degrees, according to a new study.
In a study published in the July-August issue of the American Journal of
Health Behavior, Wendy Hellerstedt, M.P.H., Ph.D., and colleagues of the
School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota report that education
and working status affect whether or not rural women breastfeed their babies
and for how long.
Many experts believe that breastfeeding is important because human milk is
the ideal food for infants, at least up to 6 months old.
Breastfeeding is associated with reduced childhood illnesses, improved
immune function and potential protection from some health problems in later
childhood or adulthood.
Hellerstedt’s used a larger study of immunizations and well-baby care in an
economically depressed, 13-county area of northwestern Minnesota for her
study. The region had the lowest per capita incomes and the poorest measures
of babies’ and mothers’ health in the state outside metropolitan areas.
Across the United States, other researchers have found that people in rural
areas have lower average education levels, lower incomes, more children,
more teen births and inadequate economic, social welfare and health
resources
The women in the Minnesota study were mostly white and married. Their
average age was 28.5 years, but participants ranged from 18 to 46 years old.
When contacted four to 16 months after giving birth, mothers in the survey
were asked if they had breastfed their babies and for how long.
Of the 414 women, 253 reported ever having breastfed their infants, and of
those, 155 (61 percent) reported breastfeeding for more than three months.
On average, the women breastfed their babies for 4.4 months.
Educational level and working status affected breastfeeding practices,
Hellerstedt says. Women with a college education and who worked less than
fulltime were three times more likely to breastfeed infants than women who
worked fulltime and had less than a college education.
The same associations held for duration of breastfeeding. When
considering women who breastfed their infants for longer than three months,
those who had completed college or who were not employed fulltime tended to
breastfeed longer than less-educated, working women.
Hellerstedt also found that older mothers (in the age 31-46 group) were two
to three and a half times more likely continue breastfeeding.
The implications of educational attainment are important, since fewer rural
women have college degrees.
“We are aware that rural women are educationally disadvantaged compared to
urban women,” says Hellerstedt. “Twice as many urban women [as rural
women] have four-year college degrees.”
Her work may also suggest that job status plays a role in
breastfeeding.
“It may be that women who are employed full-time but are less than
college-educated are employed in positions that do not allow them the
flexibility to meet their infant’s nursing needs,” Hellerstedt says.
# # #
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Health Behavior News Service: (202) 387-2829 or www.hbns.org.
Interviews: Contact Wendy L. Hellerstedt at (612) 624-1818 or
hell023@umn.edu.
American Journal of Health Behavior: Visit www.ajhb.org or e-mail
eglover@hsc.wvu.edu.
|
