MONITORING
BREASTFEEDING RATES IN ITALY: RESULTS FROM AN ONGOING SURVEY
Giovannini
M, Banderali G,
Agostoni C, Stival G, Bernardo L, Riva E.
Department of Pediatrics, San Paolo Hospital,
Milan, Italy
Objective: The aim of this ongoing
longitudinal study was to evaluate whether any change in the breastfeeding
rate has occurred in Italy in the last five-year period.
Methods: Two cohorts of 2192 and 3249
mother-infant pairs were randomly recruited from all the healthy singleton
term infants born in Italy during November 1995 and November 1999,
respectively. A telephone questionnaire was administered one month and
three months after delivery. Experienced personnel, standardized previously
during a training course, carried out the interviews.
Results: The participation rate was
73.0% in 1995 and 75.4% in 1999. The rate of initiation of breastfeeding
was higher in 1999 (89.0%, 95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 87.8% to 90.2%)
than in 1995 (85.3%, 95% CI, 83.6% to 87.0%) (p<0.0001). The rate of
full (exclusive or predominant) breastfeeding was also higher in 1999
(78.0%, 95% CI, 76.4% to 79.6%) than in 1995 (71.8%, 95% CI, 69.6% to
74.0%) (p<0.0001). Three months after delivery the rate of breastfeeding
was 41.8% (95% CI, 39.4% to 42.2%) in the 1995 cohort and 62.3% (95% CI,
60.4% to 64.2%) in the 1999 cohort (p<0.0001). The corresponding rates
of full breastfeeding were 37.3% (95% CI, 34.9% to 39.7%) and 44.6% (95%
CI, 42.6% to 46.6%), respectively (p<0.0001).
Conclusion: The present findings point out
that there has been a significant increase of the breastfeeding rate in
Italy during the last five years. Possible changes related to
infant-feeding policies and practice should be identified to further
promote breastfeeding in Italy, also accordingly to the World Health
Organization (WHO) recommendations.
Study supported by the Danone Institute of Italy.