WIC and Breastfeeding Support Services: Does the Mix of Services Offered Vary with Race and Ethnicity?

Evans, Kelly; Labbok, Miriam H.; Abrahams, Sheryl W.

doi:10.1089/bfm.2010.0086

Cited by 40 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Research in this area has moved beyond simply identifying demographic and socioeconomic risk factors for poor breastfeeding outcomes and has identified novel, potentially modifiable risk factors. Some of the potential causes of poor breastfeeding outcomes among black and Puerto Rican women include breastfeeding ambivalence (7), the availability of free formula from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (8), a high level of comfort with the idea of formula feeding (9), limited availability and lower intensity of WIC breastfeeding support for minority women (10,11), and issues surrounding trust building and perceived mistreatment by providers (12). Further research is needed to better understand the root causes of breastfeeding disparities and how these can be addressed through public health interventions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breastfeeding Among Minority Women: Moving From Risk Factors to Interventions

Chapman

Pérez‐Escamilla

2012

Advances in Nutrition

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The gap between current breastfeeding practices and the Healthy People 2020 breastfeeding goals is widest for black women compared with all other ethnic groups. Also of concern, Hispanic and black women have the highest rates of formula supplementation of breast-fed infants before 2 d of life. These disparities must be addressed through the scale-up of effective interventions. The objective of this critical review is to identify and evaluate U.S.-based randomized trials evaluating breastfeeding interventions targeting minorities and highlight promising public health approaches for minimizing breastfeeding disparities. Through PubMed searches, we identified 22 relevant publications evaluating 18 interventions targeting minorities (peer counseling [n = 4], professional support [n = 4], a breastfeeding team [peer + professional support, n = 3], breastfeeding-specific clinic appointments [n = 2], group prenatal education [n = 3], and enhanced breastfeeding programs [n = 2]). Peer counseling interventions (alone or in combination with a health professional), breastfeeding-specific clinic appointments, group prenatal education, and hospital/Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children enhancements were all found to greatly improve breastfeeding initiation, duration, or exclusivity. Postpartum professional support delivered by nurses was found to be the least effective intervention type. Beyond improving breastfeeding outcomes, 6 interventions resulted in reductions in infant morbidity or health care use. Future research should include further evaluations of successful interventions, with an emphasis on determining the optimal timeframe for the provision of support, the effect of educating women's family members, and the impact on infant health care use and cost-effectiveness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breastfeeding Among Minority Women: Moving From Risk Factors to Interventions

Chapman

Pérez‐Escamilla

2012

Advances in Nutrition

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“…Any effort to promote breast-feeding among low-SES black women would be remiss if it did not consider the WIC programme as a unique opportunity to provide breast-feeding education and support to women who might not breast-feed otherwise. Not only has research revealed breast-feeding to be less common among WIC participants (58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(64) , it has also revealed that black WIC participants have the lowest breast-feeding rates (59,63) and are significantly less likely to receive breast-feeding advice from their health-care providers and/or WIC counsellors than white participants (59,64,65) . In an effort to improve breast-feeding rates among WIC participants, especially black participants, the WIC programme expanded its breast-feeding education to include the Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program (66,67) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does breast-feeding reduce offspring junk food consumption during childhood? Examinations by socio-economic status and race/ethnicity

Jackson

Johnson

2017

Public Health Nutr.

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“…Surveys have found African American mothers to report more barriers to breastfeeding than Caucasian and Hispanic mothers [22]. These barriers include lack of knowledge, pain or discomfort during breastfeeding, and stopping breastfeeding to return to work [22,23].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does breastfeeding contribute to the racial gap in reading and math test scores?

Peters

Huang

Vaughn

et al. 2013

Annals of Epidemiology

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Purpose The aim of this study was to examine the impact of divergent breastfeeding practices between Caucasian and African American mothers on the lingering achievement test gap between Caucasian and African American children. Methods The Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, beginning in 1997, followed a cohort of 3563 children aged 0–12 years. Reading and math test scores from 2002 for 1928 children were linked with breastfeeding history. Regression analysis was used to examine associations between ever having been breastfed and duration of breastfeeding and test scores, controlling for characteristics of child, mother, and household. Results African American students scored significantly lower than Caucasian children by 10.6 and 10.9 points on reading and math tests, respectively. After accounting for the impact of having been breastfed during infancy, the racial test gap decreased by 17% for reading scores and 9% for math scores. Conclusions Study findings indicate that breastfeeding explains 17% and 9% of the observed gaps in reading and math scores, respectively, between African Americans and Caucasians, an effect larger than most recent educational policy interventions. Renewed efforts around policies and clinical practices that promote and remove barriers for African American mothers to breastfeed should be implemented.

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WIC and Breastfeeding Support Services: Does the Mix of Services Offered Vary with Race and Ethnicity?

Cited by 40 publications

References 10 publications

Breastfeeding Among Minority Women: Moving From Risk Factors to Interventions

Breastfeeding Among Minority Women: Moving From Risk Factors to Interventions

Does breast-feeding reduce offspring junk food consumption during childhood? Examinations by socio-economic status and race/ethnicity

Does breastfeeding contribute to the racial gap in reading and math test scores?

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