Intimate partner violence and infant feeding practices in India: a cross-sectional study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Sarah Zureick-Brown, Emory University; Kayla Lavilla, Emory University; Kathryn Yount, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2015-10-01
• Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12057
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: MATERNAL AND CHILD NUTRITION
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 792
• End Page: 802
• Grant/Funding Information: None
• Keywords: Science & Technology; complementary feeding; SEXUAL-ABUSE; PREVALENCE; intimate partner violence (IPV); breastfeeding; Pediatrics; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; ASSOCIATION; India; DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; RURAL INDIA; infant feeding practices; Nutrition & Dietetics; MENTAL-HEALTH; maternal and child health; PREGNANCY; WOMEN; DURATION; POPULATION
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Nutrition

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is widespread; yet research is thin and equivocal regarding its potential adverse effects on infant feeding practices. With a national sample of 3552 mothers and infants aged 180 days or younger from the 2005-2006 National Family Health Survey for India, we used logistic regression to estimate the unadjusted and adjusted associations of maternal reported lifetime exposure to any IPV and to physical or sexual IPV with feeding practices at birth and in the prior 24h. Compared with their unexposed counterparts, mothers exposed to any IPV and to any physical or sexual IPV had higher adjusted odds of giving their infant liquids [aOR 1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-1.66; aOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.08-1.75, respectively], and thus lower adjusted odds of exclusively breastfeeding their infant in the prior 24h (aOR 0.78, 95% CI 0.62-0.98; aOR 0.74, 95% CI 0.58-0.95). Mothers exposed to physical or sexual IPV also had higher adjusted odds of feeding their infant solids in the prior 24h (aOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.01-2.23). Exposure to IPV was not significantly associated with breastfeeding immediately after birth or with bottle feeding in the prior 24h. Perinatal screening for IPV, and addressing IPV and feeding practices in exposed mothers, may improve maternal health and infant nutrition in similar settings.