OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in breast-feeding and impacts on child health during the Bosnian conflict. DESIGN: Four linked representative cross-sectional household surveys, 1994 to 1997. SETTING: The countries of former Yugoslavia largely missed the international wave of enthusiasm for breast-feeding of the 1980s and early 1990s. The concern is that breast-feeding deteriorates during humanitarian emergencies, when children need it most. SUBJECTS: The four surveys visited a random sample of clusters from population registers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Republica Srpska (RS). Interviewers asked about breast-feeding and other factors related to child health, and measured mid upper-arm circumference in 1123 infants aged 1-12 months. RESULTS: One-fifth of infants were not breast-fed at all (220/1087). Muslim and displaced children were less likely to breast-feed; 59 % of Muslim displaced children never breast-fed. Among infants in sites visited by all four surveys, there was no change in the proportion ever breast-fed and a significant increase in duration of breast-feeding and exclusive breast-feeding between 1994 and 1997. Children were breast-fed for shorter durations in male absent households, in frontline communities, the RS, and households that did not receive remittances from abroad. Non-breast-fed children and those who breast-fed for less than 4 months were more likely to be malnourished, as were those with complementary foods added either before or after their sixth month of life. CONCLUSIONS: If relief agencies had promoted and supported breast-feeding, this might have avoided some of the increased malnutrition that occurred during the conflict.
OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in breast-feeding and impacts on child health during the Bosnian conflict. DESIGN: Four linked representative cross-sectional household surveys, 1994 to 1997. SETTING: The countries of former Yugoslavia largely missed the international wave of enthusiasm for breast-feeding of the 1980s and early 1990s. The concern is that breast-feeding deteriorates during humanitarian emergencies, when children need it most. SUBJECTS: The four surveys visited a random sample of clusters from population registers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Republica Srpska (RS). Interviewers asked about breast-feeding and other factors related to child health, and measured mid upper-arm circumference in 1123 infants aged 1-12 months. RESULTS: One-fifth of infants were not breast-fed at all (220/1087). Muslim and displaced children were less likely to breast-feed; 59 % of Muslim displaced children never breast-fed. Among infants in sites visited by all four surveys, there was no change in the proportion ever breast-fed and a significant increase in duration of breast-feeding and exclusive breast-feeding between 1994 and 1997. Children were breast-fed for shorter durations in male absent households, in frontline communities, the RS, and households that did not receive remittances from abroad. Non-breast-fed children and those who breast-fed for less than 4 months were more likely to be malnourished, as were those with complementary foods added either before or after their sixth month of life. CONCLUSIONS: If relief agencies had promoted and supported breast-feeding, this might have avoided some of the increased malnutrition that occurred during the conflict.
Authors: Svitlana Nidzvetska; Jose M Rodriguez-Llanes; Isabelle Aujoulat; Julita Gil Cuesta; Hannah Tappis; Joris A F van Loenhout; Debarati Guha-Sapir Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2017-01-09 Impact factor: 3.390