Influence of 1991-1995 war on breast-feeding in Croatia: Questionnaire study

Aim. To investigate the influence of 1991-1995 war on the prevalence, durat ion, and practice of breast-feeding Croatian children up to 5 years of age. Method. In 1996, interviews were conducted in households with children up t o 2 years of age (757 children) and 2-5 years of age (1,180 children). Data for war-free areas, war-affected areas, and areas liberated after several years of occupation were analyzed separately. Results. In 1996, 94.6% of mothers started breast-feeding, which lasted for an average of 3.4+/-2.9 months. The proportion of mothers who started brea st-feeding did not vary with respect to either war-related or geographic ar eas of the country. Breast-feeding was significantly longer in war-free tha n in war-affected areas (3.7+/-3.1 vs. 2.7+/-2.1 months, respectively; p=0. 015). The duration of breast-feeding in Croatia's geographic regions, Istri a, Hrvatsko Primorje, and Gorski Kotar, was significantly longer than in Sl avonia (3.9+/-3.4 vs. 3.4+/-3.0, respectively; p=0.037). On the country lev el, 49.4% of babies were fed on demand and 43.3% according to a daily sched ule. The percent of children who were not breast-fed was significantly high er (p=0.002) in the older age group (2-5 years of age, 9.3%) than in the yo unger age group (up to 2 years of age, 5.4%). Conclusions. The war decreased the prevalence and duration of breast-feedin g which might be related to regular humanitarian donations of infant food a nd mother's milk substitutes, especially in the war-affected areas. UNICEF breast-feeding campaign, which started in 1993, appeared to be effective.