Lactation, birth spacing and maternal work-loads among two castes in rural Nepal
Panter-Brick, C.
Journal of Biosocial Science 23(2): 137-154
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-9320 PMID: 2061343 DOI: 10.1017/s0021932000019179Document Number: 314856
From 1982-1983, researchers observed working women from 2 castes (16 Tamang and 8 Kami) in Salme, Nepal for 11-13 hours/day to determine if breast feeding and working behaviors explain fertility differences between them. Work loads greatly increased for the agropastoralist Tamang women during the monsoon (p.0007), but not so for the low caste Kami women who worked mainly at home. Intervals between feeds and agricultural activities averaged 98 minutes while they averaged 47 minutes for husbandry activities (p.05). Neither affected feed duration. If Tamang women worked in a labor group rather than alone, they tended to provide shorter breast feeds only during the monsoon (p.05). Infant age greatly affected duration of breast feeds (p.0005), interval between feeds (p.004), and total frequency and nursing time (p.0001) among the Tamang. Seasonality did not affect these relationships, except for 3 year olds in which seasonality was significantly reduced during the monsoon. On the other hand, it did have a strong effect on interval (p.05), total frequency (p.01), and total time (p.001) for the Kami. Tamang women provided longer feeds for their infants than did the Kami women during the winter (p.0002), but differences between the 2 castes were minor during spring. Yet Tamang women breast feed their 2 year olds for shorter times than Kami women during the spring (p.01). Among the Kami, infant age did not affect duration, interval, total frequency, and total time. Therefore the 2 castes were not alike in how they planned feeds from day to day. In fact, the Kami women fed their children at very irregular intervals regardless of the child's age. As for Tamang women, intervals grew more irregular with increasing age of the child. Supplementary foods most likely accounted for the high variability between the 2 castes. No 3 year old Kami children were breast fed. The interval between feeds rose consistently with infant age for the Tamang but not for the Kami.