Bangladesh 1993-1994 Demographic and Health ... - Measure DHS

The median duration of breastfeeding in Bangladesh is extraordinarily long, so long, in fact, that itcannot be calculated exactly from BDHS data. This is because breastfeeding status was asked only forchildren age 35 months or less and 60 percent of the children age 34-35 months were still being breastfed.Thus, the median duration of breastfeeding is something more than 35 months. The mean duration ofbreastfeeding is 28 months, which is similar to estimates of 30 months in 1991 (Mitra et al., 1993:97) and 29in 1989 (Huq and Cleland, 1990:87).The early introduction of supplements is reflected in the short duration of exclusive breastfeeding(2 months). Few children who are supplemented receive only plain water in addition to breast milk and thus,the median duration of full breastfeeding is also quite short (3 months). Differentials in breastfeedingdurations are also shown in Table 8.15, although analysis is hampered by both the long durations and thesmall sample sizes for some groups. Children whose mothers have less education are breastfed longer thanthose whose mothers have at least some secondary education.The duration of postpartum amenorrhea is affected by both the length of time spent breastfeeding andthe frequency of breastfeeding. The child's health and nutritional status are also affected by the frequencyof breastfeeding. Almost all children (95 percent) under the age of six months were reported to have beenbreastfed at least six times in the 24 hours preceding the survey. Differences among subgroups are veryminor.120