Kb. Simondon et al., Children's height, health and appetite influence mothers' weaning decisions in rural Senegal, INT J EPID, 30(3), 2001, pp. 476-481
Citations number
23
Categorie Soggetti
Envirnomentale Medicine & Public Health","Medical Research General Topics
Background In many developing countries, breastfed children have a lower nu
tritional status than those weaned from 12 months of age. Reverse causality
, that is, earlier weaning of healthy and well-nourished children, is a pos
sible explanation.
Methods Maternal reasons for early and late weaning were investigated in a
cohort of 485 rural Senegalese children using structured interviews during
two rounds at the ages of 18-28 and 23-33 months, respectively. Length, wei
ght and height were assessed, and dates of weaning were monitored.
Results The mean duration of breastfeeding was 24.1 months (quartiles 21.9
and 26.3). Two-thirds of mothers of breastfed children under 2 stated that
they would wean at the age of 2, while for breastfed children aged 2 years,
a 'tall and strong' child was the most prevalent criterion. The main reaso
ns for weaning prior to 2 years (N = 244) were that the child ate well from
the family plate (60%), that the child was 'tall and strong' (46%) and mat
ernal pregnancy (35%). The main reasons for weaning later than the age of 2
were: a 'little, weak' child (33%), food shortage (25%), illness of the ch
ild (24%) and refusal of family food (14%, N=120). Children breastfed above
the age of 2 because they were 'small and weak' had lower mean height-for-
age and a greater prevalence of stunting than children breastfed late for o
ther reasons (P < 0.0001).
Conclusion The habit of postponing weaning of stunted children very likely
explains why breastfed children have lower height-for-age than weaned child
ren in this setting.