Couples Immigration Status and Ethnicity as Determinants of Breastfeeding
Christina M. Gibson-Davis, PhD and
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, PhD
Christina M. Gibson-Davis is with the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University, Durham, NC. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn is with the Teachers College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Christina M. Gibson-Davis, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University, PO Box 90245, Durham, North Carolina 27708 (e-mail: cgibson{at}duke.edu).
Objectives: We investigated how couples immigration statusand ethnicity determined the decision to initiate breastfeedingand to breastfeed at 6 months.
Methods: From data collected on 4207 mothers and 3013 fathersparticipating in a longitudinal birth cohort study, we usedlinear regression and covariate-adjusted proportions to estimatethe determinants of breastfeeding behaviors. The sample wasdivided by immigration status (either foreign born or born inthe United States) and further subdivided by ethnicity (MexicanHispanic, non-Mexican Hispanic, and non-Hispanic).
Results: Mothers born in the United States had an 85% reductionin the odds of breastfeeding as compared to foreign-born mothersand a 66% reduction in the odds of breastfeeding at 6 months.Each additional year of US residency decreased the odds of breastfeedingby 4%. These differences by immigration status were seen forMexicans, other Hispanics, and non-Hispanics.
Conclusion: The Hispanic paradox may extend to other non-Hispanicimmigrants for breastfeeding behaviors, but may not be truefor Hispanic mothers born in the United States. Low rates ofbreastfeeding for Hispanic American mothers indicate that theyshould not be overlooked by breastfeeding promotion programs.
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