Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:52:23.339Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Breast-feeding, birth interval and child mortality in Bangladesh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Abul Kashem Majumder
Abul Kashem Majumder
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The 1975–76 Bangladesh Fertility Survey data show little evidence that breast-feeding is the intermediate factor through which birth intervals influence child survival in Bangladesh. Preceding birth interval, subsequent pregnancy and breast-feeding duration each have an independent influence on early mortality risk. Within a specific interval the risk of dying decreases with increase in duration of breast-feeding, and also with an increase in the time between the index birth and the next pregnancy. The death of the immediately preceding child in infancy has a significant negative effect on the survival chance of the index child at ages 1–5 months. However, death of the preceding child appears to have a significantly positive effect on the survival chance of the index child between ages 9 months and 5 years; this may be related to competition between siblings.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , July 1991 , pp. 297 - 312
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Butz, W. P., Habicht, J. & DaVanzo, J. (1984) Environmental factors in the relationship between breastfeeding and infant mortality: the role of sanitation and water in Malaysia. Am. J. Epidemiol. 119, 516.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eelens, F. (1983) Impact of Breast-feeding on Infant and Child Mortality with Varying Incidence of Malaria—Evidence from the Kenya Fertility Survey 1977–78. Working Paper No. 1983–3. Interuniversity Programme in Demography, Brussels.Google Scholar
Goldberg, H. I., Rodrigues, W., Thome, A. M. T., Janowitz, B. & Morris, L. (1984) Infant mortality and breast-feeding in north-eastern Brazil. Popul. Stud. 38, 105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gubhaju, B. (1985) The effect of previous child death on infant and child mortality in rural Nepal. Stud. Fam. Plann. 16, 231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hobcraft, J., McDonald, J. & Rutstein, S. (1983) Child-spacing effects on infant and early child mortality. Popul. Ind. 49, 585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, T. & Gubhaju, B. (1986) Multivariate analysis of infant and child mortality in Java and Bali. J. biosoc. Sci. 18, 109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janowitz, B., Lewis, J., Parnell, A., Hefnawi, F., Younis, M. & Serour, G. (1981) Breast-feeding and child survival in Egypt. J biosoc. Sci. 13, 287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, T-H. (1986) Mortality Transition in Korea: 1960–1980. PhD thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.Google Scholar
Majumder, A. K. (1989a) Determinants of Infant and Child Mortality in Bangladesh. PhD thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.Google Scholar
Majumder, A. K. (1989b) Child Survival and its Effect on Mortality Risks of Siblings in Bangladesh. Research Note on Child Survival No. 25CS. International Population Dynamics Programme, Australian National University, Canberra.Google Scholar
Millman, S. (1985) Breastfeeding and infant mortality: untangling the complex web of causality. Social. Q. 26, 65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millman, S. & Cooksey, E. (1987) Birth weight and the effects of birth spacing and breastfeeding on infant mortality. Stud. Fam. Plann. 18, 202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palloni, A. & Millman, S. (1986) Effects of inter-birth intervals and breastfeeding on infant and early childhood mortality. Popul. Stud. 40, 215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palloni, A. & Tienda, M. (1986) The effects of breastfeeding and pace of child bearing on mortality at early ages. Demography, 23, 31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, C. B. (1986) The place of child-spacing as a factor in infant mortality: a recursive model. Am. J. publ. Hlth, 76, 995.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Retherford, R. D., Choe, M. K., Thapa, S. & Gubhaju, B. (1987) To What Extent does Breastfeeding Explain Birth Interval Effects on Early Childhood Mortality? Working Paper No. 51. East-West Population Institute, Honolulu.Google Scholar