%0 Journal Article
%T Predictors of Exclusive Breastfeeding for 6 Months in a National Sample of US Children
%A Amrik S. Khalsa
%A Ashley L. Merianos
%A Cathleen Odar Stough
%A James Peugh
%A Laura A. Nabors
%J American Journal of Health Promotion
%@ 2168-6602
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0890117118774208
%X To explore predictors of breastfeeding behavior and seek to replicate prior findings using a recent nationally representative United States (US) sample, which has not been done previously. Secondary data analysis using the National Survey of ChildrenĄ¯s Health 2011 to 2012. Households in the 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands. Caregivers with a child between 6 months and 6 years of age (n = 26 552). Caregiver-reported child breastfeeding behavior, child birth weight, child/maternal/family demographics, maternal physical and mental health, and household tobacco exposure. A multinomial logistic regression explored whether child, maternal, and family characteristics predicted exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months or breastfeeding for a suboptimal duration. Approximately 79% and 17% of the sample-initiated breastfeeding and exclusively breastfed for 6 months, respectively. Child ethnicity/race, maternal education, household tobacco exposure, family composition, and family income predicted odds of both exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and breastfeeding for a suboptimal duration or not exclusively. Normal or high child birth weight and better maternal physical health predicted greater odds of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months. Rates of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months remain low in the United States. Single-parent and step-families, lower income families, non-Hispanic black children, children with exposure to tobacco, and children of mothers with lower education are at greatest risk
%K breastfeeding
%K exclusive
%K infant feeding
%K infants
%K nutrition
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0890117118774208