**Factors Associated with Exclusive Breastfeeding in Timor-Leste: Findings from Demographic and Health Survey 2009–2010**

**Vishnu Khanal 1 , Jonia Lourenca Nunes Brites da Cruz <sup>2</sup> , Rajendra Karkee <sup>3</sup> and Andy H. Lee 4,\***


*Received: 30 December 2013; in revised form: 15 April 2014 / Accepted: 16 April 2014 / Published: 22 April 2014* 

**Abstract:** Exclusive breastfeeding is known to have nutritional and health benefits. This study investigated factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding among infants aged five months or less in Timor-Leste. The latest data from the national Demographic and Health Survey 2009–2010 were analyzed by binary logistic regression. Of the 975 infants included in the study, overall 49% (95% confidence interval 45.4% to 52.7%) were exclusively breastfed. The exclusive breastfeeding prevalence declined with increasing infant age, from 68.0% at less than one month to 24.9% at five months. Increasing infant age, mothers with a paid occupation, who perceived their newborn as non-average size, and residence in the capital city Dili, were associated with a lower likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding. On the other hand, women who could decide health-related matters tended to breastfeed exclusively, which was not the case for others whose decisions were made by someone else. The results suggested the need of breastfeeding promotion programs to improve the exclusive breastfeeding rate. Antenatal counseling, peer support network, and home visits by health workers could be feasible options to promote exclusive breastfeeding given that the majority of births occur at home.

**Keywords:** breastfeeding; demographic and health survey; exclusive breastfeeding; Timor-Leste

#### **1. Introduction**

Exclusive breastfeeding means only breastmilk is allowed with the exception of medicine, vitamin syrup and oral rehydration solution [1,2]. It is known that exclusive breastfeeding for six months can protect infants from short term illnesses such as gastroenteritis, respiratory infection and under nutrition; and in the long term, against chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity [3,4]. The economic benefits include cost savings from avoiding illness, workdays lost and the purchase of infant formula [5]. Moreover, it has been projected that 11.6% of child deaths in 2011 could be attributable to sub-optimal breastfeeding [6]. A variety of factors have been reported to affect the practice of exclusive breastfeeding, including maternal characteristics (education, occupation, health condition, age), infant characteristics (sex, birth order, illness), and cultural practices (initiation of breastfeeding, time of introduction of complementary feeds) [7,8]. The effects of these factors vary according to cultural context and related socioeconomic conditions.

Timor-Leste is one of the youngest countries in Asia which gained independence since 2002 [9]. The country went through a long armed conflict during 1990s, leading to destruction of most of the infrastructure [9], leaving thousands of its citizens being displaced from East to West Timor [10]. The majority of health workforce returned to Indonesia after independence. Only a small number of health professionals remained to re-establish the health system with assistance from the United Nations, expatriate workers, and other international support [10]. The population of Timor-Leste is estimated to be 1.07 million in 2010 with a growth rate of 2.4% [11]. The country has a high infant mortality (45 per 1000 live births) and under five mortality rate (64 per 1000 live births). The proportion of under five children suffering from under-nutrition is still high: stunting (53%), wasting (17%) and under-weight (52%) [11]. Exclusive breastfeeding has been found positively associated with infant stature [12] and protective against overweight and obesity in childhood [13].

Currently, information on infant nutrition in Timor-Leste is lacking. A previous survey conducted in 2003 [14] reported that breastfeeding was almost universal (97.6%), but a much lower exclusive breastfeeding rate of 30.7% for infants less than 6 months. Some health infrastructures have been restored after independence in 2002. For instance, 5 hospitals, 69 health centers and 85 health posts have been established between 2002 and 2005. A national referral hospital and community health centers were also functioning by this time with the support from the government and international community. The per capita expenditure on health was US \$45 in 2006 (7.5% of GDP), higher than many other Asian countries [9]. As part of the global measure Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) project, an updated Timor-Leste DHS was conducted during 2009–2010 [11]. The aim of the present study was to investigate factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding among infants aged five months or less based on the updated information from the national DHS, findings from which will enable policy makers and public health researchers to develop interventions to improve exclusive breastfeeding in the country.

### **2. Methods**

### *2.1. Survey Design*

DHS are conducted every five years in more than 50 countries using a validated questionnaire. The Timor-Leste DHS 2009–2010, conducted in two stages, was the second survey after the initial 2003 DHS. During the first stage, 455 enumeration areas were selected based on probability proportionate to size: 116 urban and 339 rural areas. More rural samples were included because the majority of the Timor-Leste population lives in rural areas. At the second stage, 27 households were selected randomly from each enumeration area following a systematic sampling procedure.

#### *2.2. Participants*

The final survey included 11,463 households, comprising 9806 children under five years of age. The present study focused on the subgroup of 975 infants (1) with a singleton birth; (2) who were aged less than six months; (3) alive and living with the respondent; and (4) who were the youngest child in the family; in order to avoid the selection of children from the same household and parents. The DHS was approved by the ethics committee of Macro International Inc. and the Ministry of Health of Timor-Leste. The data were de-identified and made available for public use [15].
