Infant Feeding in Leicester City - East Midlands Public Health ...

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5Notes.The data used cover the time period 2005/06 to December 2009 (initiation) and 2004/05 to 2009/10(prevalence).Patients with an „unknown‟ breastfeeding status are assumed to be not feeding.This report looks at the following demographics:‣ Ethnicity.‣ Maternal Age.‣ Deprivation.This report looks at the following health outcomes:‣ Gastroenteritis.‣ Respiratory Tract Infections.‣ Obesity.When looking at the impact of infant feeding on health outcomes, only initiation rates were used, asthese generally have better historical coverage. Initiation rates and prevalence rates are known tohave a strong correlation, so in general areas with high initiation rates will also have high prevalencerates.Data on obesity are from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), 2008/09. Data forall other health outcomes are from the Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) database. The timeperiodof the HES data matches the time-period of the breastfeeding data used.
6IntroductionThe UK Infant Feeding Survey 2005(1) showed that 78% of women in England breastfed their babies afterbirth. However, by week six only 50% of all new mothers were breastfeeding and 26% by six months. In2009/2010, figures from the Department of Health(56)showed that 73% of mothers were initiatingbreastfeeding within the first 48 hours of life nationally and 45% of mothers reported that they were stillbreastfeeding at 6-8 weeks. In the East Midlands, 73% of mothers initiated breastfeeding in this same timeperiod with 43% were still breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks.Much research has been focused on the benefits of breastfeeding in developing countries, where it is wellrecognised that breastfeeding is associated with reduced mortality and morbidity. There is now a growingbody of evidence showing that even in developed countries breastfed babies are less likely to suffer fromconditions such as gastroenteritis, respiratory illness, atopic dermatitis, and childhood obesity. Theprotective effect is strengthened by exclusivity and longer duration. Mothers who breastfeed are reported tobenefit from a greater weight loss postpartum compared with mothers who bottle-fed their infants, adecreased incidence of premenopausal breast cancer and decreased incidence of ovarian cancer.The WHO currently recommends “exclusive breastfeeding up to six months of age, with continuedbreastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age and beyond”(2). The UKhas adopted the same recommendation since 2003(3). Its continuing importance as a determinant ofpreventative ill health has been recognised more recently as it has been included in the Healthy Lives,Healthy People: Public Health Outcomes Framework(4). Rates of breastfeeding initiation and prevalence at6-8 weeks have been proposed as indicators in Domain 4 - Prevention of Ill health: reducing the number ofpeople living with preventable ill health. Its inclusion is based on the evidence that breastfeeding haspositive health benefits for both mother and baby in the short and longer term. The proposed framework iscurrently under consultation and it is hoped to be in operation from April 2012.Based on this evidence, it is clear that increasing levels of breastfeeding can significantly improve maternaland infant health in local areas. As specific groups in society are less likely to breastfeed than others it isalso an important issue in addressing health inequalities. Investments in services to support breastfeedingshould be a key part of local child health strategies to improve the health of the local population and reduceinequalities.
Page 8 and 9: 7More support is needed for mothers
Page 11 and 12: 10Local Variation.Fig.3Breastfeedin
Page 15 and 16: 14Table 1Initiation6-8 week prevale
Page 17 and 18: 16Demographics; Age of Mother.Fig.7
Page 19 and 20: 18over 35. It can be seen that the
Page 21 and 22: Breast Feednig RatesBreast Feednig
Page 23 and 24: 22When calculating deprivation quin
Page 25 and 26: 24Health Outcomes; Gastroenteritis.
Page 27 and 28: 26was associated with a reduced ris
Page 29 and 30: 28A number of studies have shown th
Page 31 and 32: 30Health Outcomes; Obesity in Recep
Page 33 and 34: 32Mangrio et al(37) found no signif
Page 35 and 36: 34model has been applied specifical
Page 37 and 38: 36given the same support in differe
Page 39 and 40: 38References1. Bolling, K., Grant,
Page 41 and 42: 4032. Contribution of Early Weight

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