Ocio-cultural and economic determinants of breast-feeding Duration in Karungu division, Migori district

Abstract

This study on socio-cultural and economic determinants of breast-feeding duration was conducted among mothers of the Luo community of Karungu Division in Western Kenya. The study aimed at examining the influence of certain socio-cultural and economic factors on the breast-feeding duration. The study was informed by open (social and cultural) systems theory. In the study, infant feeding is treated as an open system whose through-put is constituted by a set of socio-cultural and economic factors. The socio-cultural and economic factors examined include maternal occupation, parity, level of formal education and polygyny. The literature reviewed shows that breast-feeding duration is on the decline, starting from the developed world and getting more pronounced in the developing countries, and specifically in Kenya. This has resulted in different disorders, especially malnutritional, that have had associated effects on child health, particularly on increased infant mortality rate in Kenya. In this qualitative methodological approach, data were analysed using the Epi Info statistical package. This is used to calculate aspects of descriptive statistics, such as the average mean, frequencies and percentages. The study findings reveal that the duration of breast-feeding and an infant's age at weaning are determined by parity, maternal age cohort membership, level of formal education, maternal occupation and polygyny. The information indicates that breast-feeding duration is on the decline, starting from the Western countries and getting more pronounced in developing countries, particularly in this study community in rural Western Kenya. The decline in breast-feeding duration has some implications on child v nourishment, with the result that infants breast-fed for shorter durations are more prone to nutritional disorders than those breast-fed for longer durations. This is worsened when such infants are weaned on un-nutritive foods. Using systems analysis, the study findings reveal that poor infant feeding practices assume a vicious cycle, with the result that malnutritional disorders are more likely to remain intact so long as their systemic needs are met. From the study findings, it is recommended that infant feeding education programmes be introduced or intensified in the area under study. Such programmes should focus broadly on awareness creation that ushers in better infant nourishment and health in general