Factors Associated with Adequate Breastfeeding: Evidence from the Peruvian Demographic and Health Survey, 2019

Objective: To assess the factors associated with adequate breastfeeding (ABF) among Peruvian mothers during 2019. Materials and Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of the 2019 Demographic and Family Health Survey (ENDES) database of Peru. ABF was defined based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization, which defined it as starting breastfeeding within the first hour of life and continuing with exclusive breastfeeding for up to 6 months. To determine the factors associated with ABF, a Poisson generalized linear models with log-link function was used. Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. Results: A prevalence of ABF of 48.1% was identified among 11,157 women who reported at least one child in the last five years. Most of them were young (68.6%) and lived in urban areas (65.5%). Furthermore, being unemployed (aPR:1.02; 95% CI:1.00–1.04); residing on the coast, except for Metropolitan Lima (aPR:1.08; 95% CI:1.04–1.11), the highlands (aPR:1.14; 95% CI:1.11–1.18), and the jungle (aPR:1.20; 95% CI: 1.16–1.24); having had a vaginal delivery (aPR:1.30; 95% CI:1.27–1.05); and having two children (aPR:1.03; 95% CI:1.01–1.05) or three or more children (aPR:1.03; 95% CI:1.01–1.05) were associated with a higher frequency of ABF. Conclusions: One out of two women between 18–59 with children performed ABF. The factors associated with ABF were the current occupation, region of residence, type of delivery, and parity. Health policies and strategies should be implemented, considering our results, to promote maternal counseling by health personnel in order to increase the prevalence of ABF in the Peruvian population.