BREAST-FEEDING AND CHILD SURVIVAL IN MATLAB, BANGLADESH

This study investigates the effect of both total and unsupplemented br east-feeding in conjunction with birth interval on early childhood mor tality, using longitudinal data from Matlab, Bangladesh. A discrete ha zard model approach shows that it is not the duration of total breast- feeding but the duration of unsupplemented breast-feeding which increa ses child survival. Unsupplemented breast-feeding appears as such a cr ucial determinant of early childhood mortality that its effect could n ot be substantially attenuated even when important demographic and soc ioeconomic factors were controlled. Each of the covariates-supplementa tion, previous birth interval and onset of a subsequent conception-has an independent influence on early childhood mortality.