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Source: International Breastfeeding Journal
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Strow, Claudia W.
Strow, Brian K.
Seasonal Differences in Breastfeeding in the United States: A Secondary Analysis of Longitudinal Survey Data
International Breastfeeding Journal 17 (July 2022): 51.
Also: https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13006-022-00479-4
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Springer Nature Group
Keyword(s): Breastfeeding; Gender Differences; Seasonality

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Background: Both the consumption of breastmilk in infancy and a person's season of birth influences his or her health, educational, professional, and behavioral outcomes. Further, season of birth effects differ by sex. However, current research, for the most part, neglects to examine if season of birth and breastfeeding are related. This paper examines the impact of sex-based variations in season of birth on breastfeeding likelihood and duration in the U.S.

Methods: Using data from children born to female respondents of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (born between 1970 and 2012), this study examines with Probit, Negative Binomial, and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions if a child's season of birth and sex are correlated with breastfeeding incidence and duration. The breastfeeding incidence and duration data are self-reported by the mother.

Results: Season of birth has a small but statistically significant impact on the incidence and duration of breastfeeding, which varies depending on the sex of the infant. Mothers giving birth to sons in the spring are 13.5% less likely to breastfeed than those giving birth to sons in the winter (with a p - value of 0.0269). Mothers with daughters born in the summer or fall (autumn) breastfeed slightly longer than mothers with daughters born in the spring. On average, mothers of summer-born daughters breastfeed 4.1% longer (with a 95% confidence interval of 0.3 - 7.8) and those with fall-born daughters 3.8% longer (with a 95% confidence interval of 0 - 7.5). Mothers giving birth to daughters in the spring are also significantly less likely to reach the breastfeeding six-week duration target (compared to fall and winter births) and the one-year duration target (compared to fall births).

Bibliography Citation
Strow, Claudia W. and Brian K. Strow. "Seasonal Differences in Breastfeeding in the United States: A Secondary Analysis of Longitudinal Survey Data." International Breastfeeding Journal 17 (July 2022): 51.