Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-23-2025

Publication Title

Children

Volume

12

Issue

9

First page number:

1

Last page number:

9

Abstract

Background: Latina mothers in the United States report lower rates of breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity than their non-Hispanic counterparts. Lower rates of breastfeeding in infancy may lead to a higher rate of excess weight in childhood and adverse health conditions. Breastfeeding disparities in Latina women have been previously correlated with socio-cultural factors such as acculturation, education, income, nativity, and marital status. This study examines whether socio-cultural factors are associated with breastfeeding behaviors in Latina mothers in Nevada. Methods: Participants were Latina mothers [n = 214] over 18 years of age, with a child 2–5 years old. A logistic regression was conducted to assess the associations between acculturation, age, marital status, education, and nativity with breastfeeding. Results: Mothers who were married/living with their partner had 2.3 greater odds (95% CI = 1.08, 4.73; p-value < 0.05) of breastfeeding than the mothers who were not in a relationship, and mothers who were born outside the US had 4 times greater odds of breastfeeding than mothers who were born in the US (95% CI = 1.178, 13.514; p-value < 0.05). No significant association was found for acculturation (OR = 1.13; 95% CI = 0.74, 1.7; p-value = > 0.05), maternal age (OR = 1.01; 95%; CI = 0.96, 1.07; p-value = > 0.05) and education (OR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.37, 1.8; p-value = > 0.5). Conclusions: These findings suggest that a romantic partner may be supportive of breastfeeding, and foreign-born mothers may retain their cultural norm of breastfeeding. These results can be applied to develop a culturally tailored intervention to promote breastfeeding behavior.

Keywords

breastfeeding; disparities; acculturation; Hispanics; Latinas; marital status; nativity

Disciplines

Development Studies | Latina/o Studies | Maternal, Child Health and Neonatal Nursing

File Format

pdf

File Size

215 KB

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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