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Neighborhood disadvantage, greenness and population density as predictors of breastfeeding practices: a population cohort study from Finland

Galante, Laura; Lahdenperä, Mirkka; Rautava, Samuli; Pentti, Jaana; Ollila, Helena; Tarro, Saija; Vahtera, Jussi; ... Lagström, Hanna; + view all (2022) Neighborhood disadvantage, greenness and population density as predictors of breastfeeding practices: a population cohort study from Finland. The Journal of Nutrition 10.1093/jn/nxac069. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Many environmental factors are known to hinder breastfeeding, yet the role of the family living environment in this regard is still poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: Therefore, we used data from a large cohort to identify associations between neighborhood characteristics and breastfeeding behavior. METHODS: Our observational study included 11,038 children (0-2 years) from the Southwest Finland Birth Cohort. Participant information were obtained from the Medical Birth Register and municipal follow-up clinics. Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, greenness and population density were measured for a period of 5 years prior to childbirth within the residential neighborhood on a 250×250m grid. Any breastfeeding and breastfeeding at six months were the primary outcomes. Binary logistic regression models were adjusted for maternal health and socioeconomic factors. RESULTS: Adjusted analyses suggest that mothers living in less populated areas were less likely to display any breastfeeding (OR: 0.46; 95% CI 0.36, 0.59) and breastfeeding at six months (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.40). Mothers living in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods were less likely to display any breastfeeding if the neighborhood was less populated (OR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.30, 0.95) but more likely to breastfeed at six months if the neighborhood was highly populated (OR: 3.74; 95% CI: 1.92, 7.29). Low greenness was associated with higher likelihood of any breastfeeding (OR: 3.82; 95% CI: 1.53, 9.55) and breastfeeding at six months (OR: 4.41; 95% CI: 3.44, 5). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that neighborhood characteristics is associated with breastfeeding behavior in Finland. Unravelling breastfeeding decisions linked to the living environment may help identify interventions that will allow the appropriate support for all mothers and infants across different environmental challenges.

Type: Article
Title: Neighborhood disadvantage, greenness and population density as predictors of breastfeeding practices: a population cohort study from Finland
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxac069
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxac069
Language: English
Additional information: © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society for Nutrition. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Early life nutrition, Environmental health, Health inequalities, Human milk, Lactation, Mother-infant dyad, Nursing behavior, Social disadvantage
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10147266
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