Exclusive breastfeeding changes in Brazil attributable to pacifier use

Gabriela Buccini, Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Maria Helena D’Aquino Benicio, Elsa Regina Justo Giugliani and Sonia Isoyama Venancio

PLOS ONE, 2018, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Identifying key interventions to increase exclusive breastfeeding duration has been a challenge. Pacifier use has been associated with exclusive breastfeeding discontinuation in Brazil. However, the proportion of the improvement in exclusive breastfeeding duration attributable to pacifier use remains unknown. Research aim: Quantify the proportion of increases in exclusive breastfeeding prevalence that can be attributed to reduced pacifier use over time. Methods: Secondary data analyses of two nationally representative cross-sectional surveys conducted in States’ capitals in 1999 and in 2008 (N = 42,395 Brazilian infants under 6 months of age). We estimated the fraction of exclusive breastfeeding prevalence improvements that could be attributed to pacifier use based on multilevel regression analysis. Results: From 1999 to 2008, there was an increase of 15.2 percentage points in exclusive breastfeeding prevalence and a decrease of approximately 17 percentage points in the prevalence of pacifier use among infants under 6 months. Reduction in pacifier use explained an increase in 5.5 percentage points’ exclusive breastfeeding rates. If pacifier use were to decrease from 41.6% (prevalence in 2008) to 14% (as found in New Zealand), there would be an expected additional increase in exclusive breastfeeding of approximately 12 percentage points. Conclusions: About one-third of the improvements in EBF prevalence observed in Brazil over a decade can be attributed to the corresponding decline in pacifier use.

Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0208261

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208261

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