Current prevalence, changes, and determinants of breastfeeding practice in China: data from cross-sectional national household health services surveys in 2013 and 2018

Li, Zeyu; Jia, Yufei; Parshley, Iris; Zhang, Yaoguang; Wang, Jia; Long, Qian

doi:10.1186/s13006-023-00572-2

International Breastfeeding Journal

Table 2 Distribution of breastfeeding measures and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. (Data from 2014 to 2018)

From: Current prevalence, changes, and determinants of breastfeeding practice in China: data from cross-sectional national household health services surveys in 2013 and 2018

Characteristics	Practiced any breastfeeding			Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF)			Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)			Continued breastfeeding (CBF)
	Breastfed at least once		Total	Within the first hour		Total	For 6 months or more		Total	For 2 years or more		Total
	N	%	N	N	%	N	N	%	N	N	%	N
Total	9846	91.50	10,761	2773	28.16	9847	4400	47.90	9186	375	4.78	7842
Maternal-based characteristics
Age at delivery
< 25	1694	91.17	1858	471	27.80	1694	742	47.02	1578	54	3.88	1390
25–34	6522	91.87	7099	1872	28.70	6523	2958	48.69	6075	244	4.71	5178
≥ 35	1630	90.35	1804	430	26.38	1630	700	45.66	1533	77	6.04	1274
P	0.10		–	0.17		–	0.08		–	0.03		–
Educational level
Illiterate or primary school	1108	88.29	1255	272	24.55	1108	493	46.91	1051	92	9.74	945
Secondary school	3565	90.57	3936	857	24.04	3565	1652	49.30	3351	129	4.45	2899
High school or higher	5173	92.87	5570	1644	31.77	5174	2255	47.14	4784	154	3.85	3998
P	< 0.01			< 0.01		–	0.12		–	< 0.01		–
Residence
Urban	4374	91.24	4794	1003	22.93	4375	1995	48.78	4090	214	6.00	3569
Rural	5472	91.70	5967	1770	32.35	5472	2405	47.19	5096	161	3.77	4273
P	0.41		–	< 0.01		–	0.14		–	< 0.01		–
Ethnicity
Han	8629	91.34	9447	2422	28.06	8630	4017	49.98	8038	289	4.24	6820
Other	1217	92.62	1314	351	28.84	1217	383	33.36	1148	86	8.41	1022
P	0.13		–	0.60		–	< 0.01		–	< 0.01		–
Parity
1	3909	90.63	4313	1118	28.59	3910	1751	48.26	3628	128	4.16	3074
≥ 2	5937	92.08	6448	1655	27.88	5937	2649	47.66	5558	247	5.18
P	0.01		–	0.45		–	0.59		–	0.04		–
Household income quartiles
Quartile 1	2503	90.30	2772	612	24.45	2503	1106	47.29	2339	150	7.39	2029
Quartile 2	2322	91.24	2545	565	24.33	2322	1092	50.44	2165	98	5.31	1847
Quartile 3	3408	92.11	3700	1016	29.80	3409	1513	47.53	3183	89	3.29	2702
Quartile 4	1599	92.43	1730	577	36.09	1599	682	45.93	1485	38	3.04	1251
P	0.03		–	< 0.01		–	0.04		–	< 0.01		–
Healthcare-based characteristics
Frequency of antenatal visit
< 5	982	87.84	1118	239	24.34	982	435	46.38	938	75	8.87
5 ~ 7	2287	91.01	2513	582	25.45	2287	1110	51.77	2144	120	6.34
≥ 8	5898	92.77	6538	1788	30.31	5899	2505	46.13	5430	139	3.14
P	< 0.01		–	< 0.01		–	< 0.01		–	< 0.01		–
Mode of delivery
Vaginal delivery	5063	92.90	5450	1704	33.66	5063	2268	48.45	4681	46	4.92	935
Caesarean section	4111	90.37	4549	905	22.01	4112	1784	46.48	3838	6	11.32	53
P	< 0.01		–	< 0.01		–	0.07		–	0.09		–
Frequency of postnatal visit
0	2223	89.42	2486	496	22.31	2223	1017	48.15	2112	105	5.64	1863
≥ 1	6948	92.54	7508	2113	30.41	6949	3034	47.37	6405	230	4.33	5313
P	< 0.01		–	< 0.01		–	0.55		–	0.03		–
Infant-based characteristics
Sex
Male	4969	91.70	5419	1400	28.17	4970	2221	47.98	4629	189	4.83	3914
Female	4205	91.81	4580	1209	28.75	4205	1831	47.07	3890	146	4.47	3264
P	0.86		–	0.55		–	0.41		–	0.51		–
Birth weight
< 2500	374	83.11	450	99	26.47	374	135	38.14	354	22	7.24	304
2500 ~ 4000	8035	92.23	8712	2332	29.02	8036	3544	47.51	7460	278	4.44	6265
> 4000	759	91.45	830	178	23.45	759	370	52.86	700	35	5.79	604
P	< 0.01		–	< 0.01		–	< 0.01		–	0.03		–

Abbreviations: N Frequency

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