INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCING BREAST-FEEDING DURATION IN VIETNAM

This analysis of selected community and maternal characteristics influ encing duration of breastfeeding in Vietnam utilized data from the 198 8 Demographic and Health Survey and 1990 Accessibility of Contraceptiv es Survey available for the 4434 children born to 2769 women having th eir last birth between 1983-88. Explanatory variables included as cova riates in the hazards model were mother's education, age of the mother at the time of the child's birth, birth order, and gender of the chil d, urban versus rural residence, infant mortality risk in the child's province, locality (mountains and highlands compared to delta and coas tal), and region of the country (north, south). Indicators of developm ent in the child's village included availability of electricity and pu blic transportation. Breastfeeding duration was longer among the more highly educated women and among those women living in provinces with h igher infant mortality. However, there were no significant differences in the duration of breastfeeding with variations among certain develo pment characteristics of the village. Although there were regional dif ferences in the duration of breastfeeding for the rural population, th ere were no regional differences for the overall population. There wer e no significant variations in the duration of breastfeeding by age of the mother, birth order or gender of the child. Although there were s ignificant variations in duration of breastfeeding by some maternal an d community characteristics, between 80-90 per cent of all women breas tfeed for at least the first year of the child's life.