Household food security and breast-feeding duration among Canadian Inuit

Abstract

Our research does not support the hypothesis that children living in food-insecure households were breast-fed for a longer duration than children living in food-secure households. However, we found that more than 50 % of mothers in food-insecure households continued breast-feeding well beyond 1 year. Many mothers in food-secure households also continued to breast-feed beyond 1 year. Given the high prevalence of food insecurity in Inuit communities, we need to ensure infants and their caregivers are being adequately nourished to support growth and breast-feeding, respectively.

Hospital admissions for acute respiratory tract infections among infants from Nunavut and the burden of respiratory syncytial virus: a 10-year review in regional and tertiary hospitals

“…We found a high rate of ARI admissions among infants from Nunavut, with RSV being the leading pathogen identified, though fortunately with a relatively low rate of in hospital mortality in the ten-year period. The underlying reasons for these high rates of hospitalization are likely multifactorial and may include social determinants of health disparities, such as high levels of food insecurity (12) and crowded housing (13), potential genetic determinants (14), or challenges in geographically remote communities where thresholds for admission/transfer differ from southern centres. On average, 13.4% of Nunavut’s infant population were hospitalized for ARIs each year; of these, seven in ten were hospitalized outside of Nunavut and approximately one in six admitted to intensive care.…”

Association of Food Security With Breastfeeding Practices: A Scoping Review

“…However, in the adjusted analysis they found no significant association [ 19 ]. At the same time, McIsaac et al (2015) found a non-significant negative association between cessation of breastfeeding and food insecurity in the final model (HR 0.84; 95% CI 0.63-1.11) [ 21 ]. For his part, Dinour et al (2020) found that women with food insecurity during a 12-month period had a 35% risk of stopping breastfeeding during the fourth and sixth week compared to women with food security (RR 0.65; 95% CI 0.50-0.85) [ 17 ].…”

“…This substantiates the findings of Gross et al (2019) and Lesorolog et al (2018), which explain that this may be due to the perception of the relationship between an unhealthy diet and the quality of breast milk [ 17 , 23 , 24 ]. In contrast, Wong et al (2019) and McIsaac et al (2015) found that mothers with food insecurity could be less likely to stop breastfeeding [ 19 , 21 ].…”

“…PMID: 19558676; PMCID: PMC2714524.) Mean (SD) 28.6 (5.6) NA NA Under high school diploma: 71 Employment: 44 Months Female: 169 3: 40 High school diploma or higher: 254 Housekeepers: 281 3-6: 202 Male: 154 6-8: 83 Macharia et al (2018) [ 20 ] Household food insecurity access score method (does not specify nor the reference) 14-20: 312.68 Not in a union: 179.46 Poorest: 271.947 Less than primary: 197.079 Not working: 765.195 6-11 months old Female: 524.076 21-24: 339.108 In a union: 921.53 Middle: 226.806 Primary school: 606.651 Working: 300.573 Male: 561.51 25-29: 267.543 Least poor: 252.129 Secondary school: 262.038 30-45: 166.251: Missing: 1.10 Missing: 350.118 Missing: 35.232 Missing: 36.66 Missing: 16.515 Missing: 15.414 McIsaac et al (2015) [ 21 ] Food security module (modified version) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2000 version ( https://nhis.ipums.org/nhis/resources/FSGuide.pdf ) NA NA Receives income support: 96 NA NA Mean (SD) 4 years old (0.8) Female: 115 Not receives income support: 119 Male: 100 Sim et al (2020) [ 22 ] ...…”

“… Categorical Food insecurity yes/no Continuous Total breastfeeding duration Ezzeddin et al (2019) [ 13 ] Logistic regression for exclusive breastfeeding odds ratios (95% CI) Food insecure: (reference) NA Categorical Food secure Categorical Exclusive breastfeeding Food secure: 1.41 (0.74-2.69), p value: 0.292 Food insecure Non-exclusive breastfeeding Macharia et al (2018) [ 20 ] Logistic regression for relationship between exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months and household food security odds ratios (95% CI) Food insecure: (reference) Socioeconomic status, marital, mother’s age, religion, education, parity, ethnicity, health facility, birth weight. Categorical Food secure Categorical Exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months Food secure: 2.04 (1.13-3.71), p value: 0.019 Food insecure Exclusive breastfeeding < 6 months McIsaac et al (2015) [ 21 ] Risk of breastfeeding cessation for food insecure relative to food secure households cox proportional hazards ratios (95% CI) Food secure: (reference) Probability of participant selection in each community, socio-economic position indicators: house in need of repairs, living in public housing, receiving income support; child health indicators: birth weight, caregiver-rated health, child body mass index centile; traditional knowledge indicators: hunter in household, spoken inuit language. Categorical Food secure Continuous Breastfeeding duration/cessation Food insecure: 0.84 (0.63-1.11) Food insecure Sim et al (2020) [ 22 ] All participants discussed their desire to breastfeed through their belief that breastfeeding was the most natural and healthy way to feed their babies, while formula was presented as an unaffordable and less suitable alternative.…”