IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v292y2022ics0277953621009369.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of time-trends in exclusivity and continuation of breastfeeding in India: An investigation from the National Family Health Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Ghosh, Pritam
  • Rohatgi, Pratima
  • Bose, Kaushik

Abstract

Breastfeeding is an essential key factor for reducing child mortality and the risk of disease. Therefore, to ensure health and wellbeing for all (Sustainable Development Goal 03), and to reduce inequalities in child health status (SDG 10), understanding the determinants of breastfeeding is essential. Our research aims to investigate determinants of different breastfeeding practices from 2005–06 (NFHS-3) to 2015–16 (NFHS-4), and changes in different breastfeeding practices among various demographic, social, religious, and economic groups during this decade. We have used a multivariate binary logistic regression model to estimate significant determinants of different breastfeeding practices. The results show an 8.4% hike in Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF), along with a 3.3% and 1% drop in the Continuation of Breastfeeding (CBF) up to one and two years respectively during this decade in India. Significant variation has been found in EBF, CBF1 and CBF2 among various categories of child's birth interval, place of residence, social groups, economic communities, and geographic regions. Maternal nutritional status and anemia levels had significant influence on CBF1 and CBF2, and gender of the children on EBF and CBF2 from 2005–06 to 2015–16. There was no significant variation in CBF1 and CBF2 among children born in different birth orders, whereas EBF was significantly less among higher birth orders children. A dramatic improvement in EBF was found among first birth ordered children, teenage and/or highly educated mother, rich families, and in north India, and CBF2 was significantly raised only among higher educated mothers. The estimation of determinants throughout the decade is essential for improving government policies related to supporting and encouraging breastfeeding. The study suggests more initiatives and investment for the promotion, support and improvement of CBF for one and two years, and reduction of inequality among various demographic and socio-economic groups and geographic regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghosh, Pritam & Rohatgi, Pratima & Bose, Kaushik, 2022. "Determinants of time-trends in exclusivity and continuation of breastfeeding in India: An investigation from the National Family Health Survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:292:y:2022:i:c:s0277953621009369
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114604
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953621009369
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114604?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pritam Ghosh & Asraful Alam & Nilanjana Ghosal & Debodatta Saha, 2021. "A Geospatial Analysis of Temporary Housing Inequality among Socially Marginalized and Privileged Groups in India," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 798-819, June.
    2. Adriana D. Kugler & Santosh Kumar, 2017. "Preference for Boys, Family Size, and Educational Attainment in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 835-859, June.
    3. Silvia Helena Barcellos & Leandro S. Carvalho & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2014. "Child Gender and Parental Investments in India: Are Boys and Girls Treated Differently?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 157-189, January.
    4. Seema Jayachandran & Ilyana Kuziemko, 2011. "Why Do Mothers Breastfeed Girls Less than Boys? Evidence and Implications for Child Health in India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(3), pages 1485-1538.
    5. Cheng Chen & Xianglong Xu & Yan Yan, 2018. "Estimated global overweight and obesity burden in pregnant women based on panel data model," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-14, August.
    6. Siddiqui, Zakaria & Donato, Ronald, 2020. "The dramatic rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in India: Obesity transition and the looming health care crisis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ghosh, Pritam, 2023. "Determinants and transition of anaemia among under-five children from different social groups in India from 2005–06 to 2015-16," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    2. Mhlanga, TPN & Manafe, M & Ncube, LJ, 2023. "Feeding Patterns And Dietary Diversity Practices Of Caregivers With Children (0 To 24 Months) Admitted With Acute Malnutrition In Hospitals In Mpumalanga Province, South Africa," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 23(9), September.
    3. Rossi, Elodie & Levasseur, Pierre & Clément, Matthieu, 2024. "“Mother's milk”: Is there a social reversal in breastfeeding practices along with economic development?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nandi, Arindam & Sahoo, Soham & Haberland, Nicole & Ngô, Thoại D., 2023. "A glass ceiling at the playhouse? Gender gaps in public and private preschool enrollment in India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Liu, Yiwei & Su, Yuting & Yin, Yuru, 2022. "Parental preference for boys in childhood and the health of the elderly: Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    3. Ebert, Cara & Vollmer, Sebastian, 2022. "Girls unwanted – The role of parents’ child-specific sex preference for children’s early mental development," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    4. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Olivieri, Elisabetta & Triviza, Eleftheria, 2024. "Eating habits, food consumption, and health: The role of early life experiences," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    5. Valentina Alvarez-Saavedra & Pierre Levasseur & Suneha Seetahul, 2023. "The Role of Gender Inequality in the Obesity Epidemic: A Case Study from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(7), pages 980-996, July.
    6. Michele Giannola, 2024. "Parental Investments and Intra-household Inequality in Child Human Capital: Evidence from a Survey Experiment," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(658), pages 671-727.
    7. Alexander Stimpfle & David Stadelmann, 2016. "Does Central Europe Import the Missing Women Phenomenon?," CREMA Working Paper Series 2016-04, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    8. Michael Baker & Kevin Milligan, 2016. "Boy-Girl Differences in Parental Time Investments: Evidence from Three Countries," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 399-441.
    9. Olivia Bertelli, 2015. "The more the merrier? Adjusting fertility to weather shocks," PSE Working Papers halshs-01226421, HAL.
    10. Theresa Thompson Chaudhry & Maha Khan & Azka Sarosh Mir, 2021. "Son‐biased fertility stopping, birth spacing, and child nutritional status in Pakistan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 712-736, May.
    11. Ella Sargsyan, 2022. "Violent Conflicts and Child Gender Preferences of Parents: Evidence from Nigeria," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp723, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    12. Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2015. "School Entry Cutoff Date and the Timing of Births," NBER Working Papers 21402, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Nadir Altinok & Abdurrahman Aydemir, 2015. "The Unfolding of Gender Gap in Education," Working Papers halshs-01204805, HAL.
    14. Saraswat, Deepak, 2024. "Gender composition of children and sanitation behavior in India," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    15. Paola A. Suarez, 2018. "Child-bride marriage and female welfare," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 1-28, February.
    16. Prashant Bharadwaj & Leah K. Lakdawala, 2013. "Discrimination Begins in the Womb: Evidence of Sex-Selective Prenatal Investments," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(1), pages 71-113.
    17. Luojia Hu & Analía Schlosser, 2015. "Prenatal Sex Selection and Girls’ Well‐Being: Evidence from India," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(587), pages 1227-1261, September.
    18. Kyeongkuk Kim & Sang-Hyop Lee & Timothy J Halliday, 2018. "The Betrayed Generation? Intra-Household Transfers and Retirement Behavior in South Korea," Working Papers 201804, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    19. Zurab Abramishvili & William Appleman & Sergii Maksymovych, 2019. "Parental Gender Preference in the Balkans and Scandinavia: Gender Bias or Differential Costs?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp643, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    20. Nandi, Arindam & Haberland, Nicole & Ngo, Thoai D., 2023. "The impact of primary schooling expansion on adult educational attainment, literacy, and health: Evidence from India’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:292:y:2022:i:c:s0277953621009369. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.