The Effects of Breastfeeding and Its Co-Variates on Infant and Child Mortality: Some Evidence from Dodoma Region, Tanzania

Abstract

Mortality control in most developing countries is still at low levels because of high infant and child mortality rates. The infant and child mortality rates for Tanzania are still high despite the observed declining trend in developing countries in the twentieth century. The efficacy of mass campaigns against general or specific diseases and extension of health services is not convincing; hence the importance of emphasising the natural behaviours and means such as breastfeeding that confers protection to infants and children from health scourges.
This paper is a result of a study carried out in some selected localities in Dodoma Region, Tanzania. The major findings were that on average, most women in the study area breastfed for two years. Some socio-economic and biological variables such
as education, residence, maternal age, parity, and birth interval were found to be strongly correlated with both breastfeeding and under-five mortality. However, the variables have a strong effect on mortality of the under-fives than breastfeeding. Furthermore, it was found that breastfeeding for long duration is beneficial to young children, especially infants. Nevertheless, its positive effects are elevated in a multivariate perspective. Factors that increase mortality risks not only increase the
importance of breastfeeding for children's survival, but also increase the age up to which its benefits continue to be important. In retrospect, this suggests that any policy intervention designed to promote breastfeeding should concern itself primarily with how children of the most deprived subgroups are fed, and should stress continuation of breastfeeding to higher ages for those same subgroups.