Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39849591›Full record

ArticleItalian journal of pediatrics2025

Determinants of prolonged exclusive breastfeeding among children aged 6-23 months in 21 sub-saharan African countries: evidence from nationally representative data.

Enyew Getaneh Mekonen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Italian journal of pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Enyew Getaneh MekonenDepartment of Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia. enyewgetaneh12@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9316-245X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUnder-five mortality and malnutrition are more common in many low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the grave consequences of improper nutrition for children. Infants that continue to be exclusively breastfed after six months are considered to be engaging in prolonged exclusive breastfeeding. Children with prolonged exclusive breastfeeding are more susceptible to anemia, atopic dermatitis, and food allergies. There is no evidence on the pooled prevalence and determinants of prolonged exclusive breastfeeding in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, this study is intended to determine the prevalence and associated factors of prolonged exclusive breastfeeding among children aged 6 to 23 months in sub-Saharan African countries.

methodsData from the recent demographic and health surveys of 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa conducted between 2015 and 2022 were used. A total weighted sample of 63,172 mother-child pairs was included in the current study. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression was used to determine the factors associated with the outcome variable. Intra-class correlation coefficient, likelihood ratio test, median odds ratio, and deviance (-2LLR) values were used for model comparison and fitness. Finally, variables with a p-value < 0.05 and an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval were declared statistically significant.

resultsThe pooled prevalence of prolonged exclusive breastfeeding among children aged 6-23 months in sub-Saharan Africa was 17.32% (95% CI: 17.03%, 17.62%). Factors like child age [AOR = 4.39; 95% CI (4.17, 4.62)], wealth index [AOR = 1.15; 95% CI (1.07, 1.23)], maternal educational level [AOR = 1.56; 95% CI (1.36, 1.78)], marital status of the mother [AOR = 1.11; 95% CI (1.04, 1.19)], media exposure [AOR = 1.11; 95% CI (1.06, 1.17)], place of delivery [AOR = 0.82; 95% CI (0.78, 0.87)], postnatal checkup [AOR = 1.43; 95% CI (1.36, 1.51)], drinking water source [AOR = 1.06; 95% CI (1.01, 1.11)], sanitation facility [AOR = 1.15; 95% CI (1.10, 1.21)], antenatal care attendance [AOR = 1.27; 95% CI (1.16, 1.39)], community literacy [AOR = 1.08; 95% CI (1.02, 1.15)], and community media exposure [AOR = 1.06; 95% CI (1.01, 1.13)] were significantly associated with prolonged exclusive breastfeeding.

conclusionsNearly one out of five children aged 6-23 months in sub-Saharan Africa had prolonged exclusive breastfeeding. Both individual- and community-level factors were significantly associated with prolonged exclusive breastfeeding. Policymakers could find it very important to support maternal education, poverty reduction, media exposure, maternal healthcare services, and complementary feeding hygiene practices in order to encourage the timely initiation of complementary feeding.

Indexed as

Breast FeedingAdultAfrica South of the SaharaFemaleHealth SurveysHumansInfantMalePrevalenceSocioeconomic FactorsTime FactorsChildrenDHSMultilevel analysisProlonged exclusive breastfeedingSub-saharan Africa

Identifiers

PMID39849591
PMCPMC11755792

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.