From the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of MedicalSciences' and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Abstract: (4723 Views)
In this paper breastfeeding was studied among 10240 urban and 10794
rural mothers, whose children were 18 to 23 months of age. The sample size
for rural and urban areas was equal, butin each province the cluster sampling
method was used proportional to the population of each district. The results
ofthe study show that between 17% to 28% of urban mothers in the provinces
have deprived their children from the minimum period of breastfeeding
namely 4 months. The results also show that between 51 % to 68% of mothers
have breastfed their children for at least one year. The percentage of mothers
who have breastfed their children for at least 1.5 years was in the range of
36% to 50%. On the other hand, 11 % to 22% of mothers residing in rural
areas have never breastfed their children or if so, the period has been less
than 4 months. The percentage of mothers who have breastfed their children
for at least one year is in the range of 61 to 79 percent. The percentage for
mothers who have breastfed their children for 1.5 years is between 47 to 66
percent.
The overall conclusion is that:
_ Rural mothers have more willingness to breastfeed their children than
urban mothers.
_ In all urban areas and in some rural areas, illiterate mothers have a higher
percentage of breastfeeding.
_ In some rural areas, literate mothers breastfed their sons more than their
daughters.