Breastfeeding practices in villages of central Karnataka
Banapurmath, C.R.; Nagaraj, M.C.; Banapurmath, S.; Kesaree, N.
Indian Pediatrics 33(6): 477-479
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-6061 PMID: 8979608 Document Number: 458215
1050 infants 0-24 months old from 224 villages in rural areas of Karnataka, India, were studied. Only 0.3% of infants were breast-fed within 1 h of birth. Delayed initiation of breast-feeding was common; percentages of infants breast-fed within 4, 24, 48 and 72 h of birth were 6, 29, 65 and 91 respectively. All infants received pre-lacteal feeds. Colostrum was rejected by 29% of mothers. Exclusive breast-feeding was noted in 94% of infants at 1 month, 83.5% at 2 months, 72.5% at 3 months, 61.2% at 4 months, 43.4% at 5 months and 26.8% at 6 months. 57.3% of infants were bottle-fed on infant formulae from 6-10 months; 17% of infants were bottle-fed from 4 months. Continued breast-feeding rate was 99.7% at 1 year and 87.2% at 2 years. Bottle-feeding rate was 49.4% among infants <1 year old. The ever breast-fed rate was 97.0% and the median duration of breast-feeding was >24 months.