Introduction: Child stunting is one of the global public health problems and breastfeeding is one of the modifiable maternal factors protecting against child stunting. The current study aims to determine the prevalence of breastfeeding and its association with child stunting among adolescent mothers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province. Using multi-stage stratified sampling method, 250 participants were recruited. Data were collected using structured interview questionnaires in 6 districts from August 2016 to March 2017. Descriptive and analytic statistics were used to analyze data. Results: 16.4% of children were stunted and 22.4% were breastfed for ≥6 months. Univariable logistic regression disclosed significantly associated factors of stunting included age at delivery, educational level, family members, weight gain during pregnancy, birth weight, complete immunization, recent illness, breast feeding and complementary feeding (p-value < 0.05). After adjusting multivariable logistic regression analysis for potential confounders, babies breastfed <4 months were 1.83 times at risk compared with those breastfed ≥6 months (OR=1.83, 95%CI=0.41-8.30) but without significance. Conclusion: Efforts to reduce child stunting should include surveillance systems of stunting which should be conducted accompanied by providing perspectives on maternal and child health care, implementing health literacy regarding breastfeeding among adolescent mothers and prevention programs to reduce and prevent child stunting.

Introduction: Child stunting and low birth weight are the global public health problems. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of child stunting and its association with low birth weight among adolescent mothers. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province. Using multi-stage stratified sampling method, 250 participants were recruited. Data were collected using structured interview questionnaires from August 2016 to March 2017. Descriptive and analytic statistics were used to analyze data. Results: 16.4% of children were stunted. Univariable logistic regression disclosed factors significantly associated with stunting included age at delivery, educational level, family members, weight gain during pregnancy, birth weight, complete immunization, recent illness history, breast feeding and complementary feeding (p-value < 0.05). After adjusting multivariable logistic regression analysis for potential confounders, babies with low birth weight were 4.77 times at risk of stunting compared with those of normal weight (AOR = 4.77, 95% CI = 1.66 -13.68). Conclusion: Efforts to reduce child stunting should include surveillance systems of stunting and associated factors which should be conducted accompanied by providing perspectives on maternal and child health care, implementing health literacy regarding breastfeeding among adolescent mothers and prevention programs to reduce and prevent child stunting.