ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2021
Maternal education and equity in breastfeeding: trends and patterns in 81 low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2019.
Article in International journal for equity in health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review of breastfeeding prevalence, duration and determining factors in women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Psychometrics of the breastfeeding self-efficacy scale and short form: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Overcoming Barriers to Exclusive Breastfeeding in Lao PDR: Social Transfer Intervention Randomised Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2025Trial
- Investigating the association between labor pain and cessation of breastfeeding.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Feeding, caregiving practices, and developmental delay among children under five in lowland Nepal: a community-based cross-sectional survey.BMC public health · 2022Trial
- Assessment and predictors of knowledge and attitudes of women toward breastfeeding in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- The Breastfeeding Experiences of Mother-Infant Dyads and the Effects of an FMR1 Mutation.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Article
- Maternal Adiposity, Milk Production and Removal, and Infant Milk Intake During Established Lactation.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Exclusive breastfeeding practices in Afghanistan: evidence from the 2022-2023 multiple indicator cluster survey.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- Twin Challenges in Türkiye: Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates and Predictors of Breastfeeding Duration in a Tertiary Care Center.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration in women with a body mass index ≥ 30 kg/mInternational breastfeeding journal · 2025Article
- Examining Sociocultural Influences on Breastfeeding Attitudes Among Syrian and Hungarian Female Students.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Knowledge and attitude regarding breastfeeding among antenatal mothers.Sudanese journal of paediatrics · 2025Article
- Access to lactation consult services during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on breastfeeding outcome variables.PloS one · 2025Article
- Inequalities in large-scale breastfeeding programmes in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso and Vietnam.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Determinants of exclusive breastfeeding among infants under six months in Nepal: multilevel analysis of nationally representative household survey data.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Early neonatal mortality and determinants in Ethiopia: multilevel analysis of Ethiopian demographic and health survey, 2019.BMC pediatrics · 2024Article
- Increase in Breastfeeding Rates in Baby-Friendly Hospitals in Greece: Comparison with the National Study of 2017.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), low levels of formal maternal educational are positively associated with breastfeeding whereas the reverse is true among women with higher levels of formal education. As such, breastfeeding has helped to reduce health equity gaps between rich and poor children. Our paper examines trends in breastfeeding and formula consumption by maternal educational in LMICs over nearly two decades.
methodsWe used 319 nationally representative surveys from 81 countries. We used WHO definitions for breastfeeding indicators and categorized maternal education into three categories: none, primary, and secondary or higher. We grouped countries according to the World Bank income groups and UNICEF regions classifications. The trend analyses were performed through multilevel linear regression to obtain average absolute annual changes in percentage points.
resultsSignificant increases in prevalence were observed for early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding across all education categories, but more prominently in women with no formal education for early breastfeeding and in higher level educated women for exclusive breastfeeding. Small decreases in prevalence were seen mostly for women with no formal education for continued breastfeeding at 1 and 2 years. Among formula indicators, only formula consumption between 6 and 23 months decreased significantly over the period for women with primary education. Analysis by world regions demonstrated that gains in early and exclusive breastfeeding were almost universally distributed among education categories, except in the Middle East and North Africa where they decreased throughout education categories. Continued breastfeeding at 1 and 2 years increased in South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia for primary or higher education categories. Declines occurred for the group of no formal education in South Asia and nearly all education categories in the Middle East and North Africa with a decline steeper for continued breastfeeding at 2 years. With a few exceptions, the use of formula is higher among children of women at the highest education level in all regions.
conclusionsOver the course of our study, women with no formal education have worsening breastfeeding indicators compared to women with primary and secondary or higher education.
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