Série histórica da duração do aleitamento materno e fatores associados entre as décadas de 1960 a 2000: Estudo Pró-Saúde.

Abstract

In Brazil, information about the practice and duration of breastfeeding before the year 1986 is little known by the lack of studies at that time. The purpose of this dissertation was to describe a historical series of median duration of breastfeeding between the 1960s and 2000, while identifying factors associated with the risk of interrupting breastfeeding in each decade. Information of the Pró-Saúde Study (EPS) Longitudinal epidemiological investigation started in 1999 with a population of technical and administrative employees from a university in the state of Rio de Janeiro was used. The information about the duration of breastfeeding regarding the first child were collected in two phases of the EPS: Phase 1 (1999, n = 4030), and phase 4 (2011-2012, n = 2933). Women who participated in the Phase 4 and had already participated in Phase 1 were considered only once. The total number of participants of this study was 2160 women, of whom 1747 had at least one child, and in 1727 reported having breastfed and these, 1539 informed the duration of breastfeeding the first child. Breastfeeding duration was analyzed using survival analysis procedures and the effect of covariates on the breastfeeding duration was assessed by Cox regression model. The tested significance level was 5% and for the analysis statistical was used the Stata 12.0 software. The dissertation results are presented in the article entitled "Historical series of duration of breastfeeding between the decades from 1960 to 2000, Pró-Saúde Study". It was found that the median duration of breastfeeding was lower in the 1970s and increased in the 1980s onwards (6, 5, 6, 8 and 12 months over the decades from 1960 to 2000 respectively). In the 1970s the factors statistically associated with shorter duration of breastfeeding were maternal age (higher risk among older mothers), and family income (higher risk among families with higher income). In the 2000s, women with intermediate family income breastfed for longer. Women who reported themselves as black people breastfed for longer when compared to white women in the 1960s and 1970s, and when compared to white and brown color in the 1980s. The conclusion is that the median duration of breastfeeding had decreased in the 1970s, but increasing in the following decades, which coinciding with the adoption of policies, standards and practices for the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding from the 1980s.