Breast‐feeding and Social Factors

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Abstract
Information about every tenth child aged 14 to 38 months was collected by means of a questionnaire in Turku, Finland in March, 1983. This paper reports on duration of breastfeeding and its relation to social factors. The average duration of breast‐feeding was 5.7 months. Length of breast‐feeding was unaffected by sex, number of siblings, and birth order among siblings. The socioeconomic status of the father was associated with duration of breastfeeding: children in high status families were breast‐fed longer than children in low status families. Mothers with occupations in the health service, education, and the social sector breast‐fed longer than mothers in other occupations. Mothers who were working at the time of the study had breast‐fed longer than housewives. For further promotion of breast‐feeding, information must be made more effective in the lower social groups and among fathers.

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