Health Inequities In Breastfeeding Duration Among Hong Kong Chinese Mothers

Abstract

Breastfeeding has known health benefits to mothers and infants. It can help close gaps in health equity starting in the early stage of life. The objective of this study was to examine health inequities in breastfeeding duration. We recruited 1240 mother-infant pairs from postnatal wards in four public hospitals in Hong Kong from 2011 to 2012. Participants were followed up for 12 months postpartum or until breastfeeding was stopped. Kruskal-Wallis tests and Cox proportional regression models were used to determine the association between social determinants of health and breastfeeding duration. The median duration of breastfeeding was 12.5 weeks. Mothers who resided in Hong Kong for a longer duration were more likely to have shorter breastfeeding duration (P<.001). The median duration of breastfeeding for participants with primary education was 8.7 weeks compared with 21.7 weeks for participants with postgraduate education(equity gap=13 weeks). When compared with participants with post-graduate education, mothers with only a primary level of education were twice as likely to stop breastfeeding (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]=2.21, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.30-3.74). Younger mothers who were 18 to 24 years of age had a 41% increased risk of breastfeeding cessation when compared with mothers giving birth ≥35 years of age (aHR=1.41, 95% CI=1.04-1.92). There was no significant difference in the duration of any breastfeeding between participants with different levels of family income. Younger mothers and those with lower education are more likley to have a shorter breastfeeding duration. Increase breastfeeding support should be provided to disadvantaged women to improve health equity.