Factors associated with artificial feeding in Shanghai

Relationship between type of infant feeding and hospitalization for gastroenteritis in Shanghai infants

This analysis examines the relationship between feeding type and hospitalization for gastroenteritis based on the combined data of 3285 infants from the Jing-An and Chang-Ning epidemiological studies of children's health in Shanghai. Infants were classified into "ever" and "never" breastfeeding groups. The risk of hospitalization for gastroenteritis in the ever breastfed infants was significantly lower than that in the never breastfed infants, 3.4 percent versus 5.3 percent (p < .01). After controlling for covariates, the odds ratio was 0.66 (95% confidence interval = 0.46-0.94). The data suggest that breastfeeding offers moderate protection against hospitalization for gastroenteritis in Shanghai infants.

Breast‐feeding patterns in Saudi Arabia

A survey was conducted on 1019 mothers in 79 primary health care centers in Saudi Arabia to determine the patterns of breast feeding. A large percentage of mothers (98%) had breastfed their infants at birth. This rate dropped to 96.5% during the first week of life. There were 635 (64.1%) mothers who started to breastfeed their babies within 6 hours of delivery. Over two-thirds (68.9%) of mothers gave supplemental liquids to infants during the first 3 days of their life. More than half fed their infants on demand rather than on schedule. A high proportion (94.4%) breastfed at night, with 88.1% feeding their infants more than once. There was no significant relationship between the duration of suckling and the mother's age or work status (p 0.05). However, a significant relationship (p 0.001) was found between the duration of suckling and the mother's literacy. More than three-quarters of mothers slept in the same bed with their infants or in the same room. A large percentage of women initiated breast feeding; however, many introduced a supplement too early, a practice that should be discouraged.