BREAST AND BOTTLE-FEEDING IN RURAL AND URBAN SOUTH-AFRICAN CHILDREN

We studied breast and bottle feeding in 1264 children aged 1-4 years f rom five South African communities using a questionnaire on feeding ha bits completed by trained interviewers. The proportion of infants brea st feeding ranged from 73% to 94% for mean periods of 9-16 months. The group with the most consistent and prolonged breast feeding habits we re rural black children. Different bottle feeding practices were used within the various communities. At the ages studied the types of infan t feeding practice varied little within the groups although each group differed significantly from the others for the preferred feeding meth od.