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Associations between exclusive breastfeeding duration and children's developmental outcomes: evidence from Siaya county, Kenya

Onyango, S. and Kimani-Murage, E. and Kitsao-Wekulo, P. and Langat, N. K. and Okelo, K. and Obong'o, C. and Utzinger, J. and Fink, G.. (2022) Associations between exclusive breastfeeding duration and children's developmental outcomes: evidence from Siaya county, Kenya. PLoS One, 17 (3). e0265366.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) during the first 6 months of life is widely promoted as a key strategy to enhance child health, growth, and development. Even though a high proportion of children in Kenya are currently breastfed exclusively, there is little evidence regarding the developmental benefits during the first year of life. This paper aims to fill this gap by establishing an association between EBF and early childhood developmental outcomes among children below the age of 6 months in Kenya. METHODS: We used data collected as part of a cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in Bondo sub-county in the western part of Kenya to assess the associations between EBF and development in the first year of life. The primary exposure variable was EBF, and the outcome variable was child development as measured by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Third Edition (ASQ-3). RESULTS: We analyzed data from 570 children aged below 6 months at the time of the interview. Breastfeeding children exclusively between 3 and 6 months was associated with 0.61 standard deviation (SD) higher ASQ-3 scores in the adjusted model. When specific domains were considered, in the adjusted models, EBF in the 3-6 months period was associated with 0.44 SD, 0.34 SD and 0.36 SD higher ASQ-3 scores in communication, gross motor, and problem solving domains, respectively. There were weak associations in the fine motor and social-emotional domains. CONCLUSION: EBF in the 3- to 6-month age range has significant positive associations with child development, especially for communication, gross motor, and problem-solving. Programs encouraging mothers to continue EBF in this period may have substantial benefits for children.
Faculties and Departments:09 Associated Institutions > Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH)
09 Associated Institutions > Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) > Former Units within Swiss TPH > Health Impact Assessment (Utzinger)
09 Associated Institutions > Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) > Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH) > Household Economics and Health Systems Research > Epidemiology and Household Economics (Fink)
06 Faculty of Business and Economics > Departement Wirtschaftswissenschaften > Professuren Wirtschaftswissenschaften > Epidemiology and Household Economics (Fink)
UniBasel Contributors:Onyango, Silas and Utzinger, Jürg and Fink, Günther
Item Type:Article, refereed
Article Subtype:Research Article
ISSN:1932-6203 (Electronic)1932-6203 (Linking)
Note:Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article
Language:English
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Last Modified:27 Dec 2022 20:34
Deposited On:27 Dec 2022 20:34

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