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. 2009 Dec 1;90(5):1251-1271.
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00656.x.

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Breastfeeding Initiation and Duration Among Low-income, Inner-city Mothers

Helen J Lee  1 , Irma T Elo, Kelly F McCollum, Jennifer F Culhane
Affiliations

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Breastfeeding Initiation and Duration Among Low-income, Inner-city Mothers

Helen J Lee et al. Soc Sci Q. .

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Despite the promotion of breastfeeding as the "ideal" infant feeding method by health experts, breastfeeding continues to be less common among low-income and minority mothers than among other women. This paper investigates how maternal socio-demographic and infant characteristics, household environment, and health behaviors are related to breastfeeding initiation and duration among low-income, inner-city mothers, with a specific focus on differences in breastfeeding behavior by race/ethnicity and nativity status. METHODS: Using data from a community-based, longitudinal study of women in Philadelphia, PA (N=1,140), we estimate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models to predict breastfeeding initiation and duration. RESULTS: Both foreign-born black mothers and Hispanic mothers (most of whom were foreign-born) were significantly more likely to breastfeed their infants than non-Hispanic white women, findings that were partly explained by foreign-born and Hispanic mothers' prenatal intention to breastfeed. In contrast to previous studies, we also found that native-born black women were more likely to breastfeed than non-Hispanic white women. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that when poor whites and African Americans are similarly situated in an inner-city context, the disparity in their behavior with respect to infant feeding is not as distinct as documented in national surveys. Breastfeeding was also more common among low-income immigrant black women than white or native-born black mothers.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual Model for Breastfeeding Behavior
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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