Trends and associated factors of bottle-feeding in Turkey: dramatic change over the last three decades under the limited implemented code

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to examine the trends and associated factors of bottle-feeding among children aged 0–35 months. Data covering 11,205 mother-child pairs, from six recent Turkey Demographic and Health Surveys (TDHSs) were analyzed by using complex sample crosstabs and logistic regression. Bottle-feeding was on an upward trend from 33.0% to 51.5% from 1993 to 2013 and fell slightly 47.9% in 2018. Increasing trends of bottle-feeding were found in children aged 6–35 months, the East region, lower wealth index, maternal education under 5 years, Kurdish mothers, and the low antenatal care attendance. Multivariate analysis using data from TDHS-2018 showed that young maternal age, low birth weight and being 6–23 months of age were associated with higher rates of bottle-feeding. The prolonged bottle-feeding became widespread, and the bottle-feeding was common even in 35-month-old children. Interventions by the Government and stakeholders to minimize low rates of bottle-feeding should focus on high-risk groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Bottle-feeding
• breastfeeding
• code of marketing
• baby-friendly hospital initiative

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics

Hacettepe University Ethics Commission approved the original surveys. This secondary analysis study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Official permission for secondary analysis of the collected DHS data was obtained from the Institute of Population Studies.

Availability of data and material

Data can be requested from corresponding author ([email protected]).

Authorship

SSY was responsible for formulating the research question and for analysing the data; MEN for analysing the data and drafting the article, MAE for analysing the data. All authors reviewed and edited final version of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The current study received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. No other entity besides the authors had a role in the design, analysis, or writing of the current article.