Determinants of Infant Feeding: A Household Production Approach

A conceptual framework based on the household production approach is used to model the choice of infant-feeding technique. The infant-feeding decision is presented as a joint selection of breast milk, breast milk substitutes, and supplemental foods. The model is estimated using data from a 1978 hous...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economic development and cultural change 1985-10, Vol.34 (1), p.57-81
Main Authors: Akin, John S., Griffin, Charles C., Guilkey, David K., Popkin, Barry M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AFRICA
ASIA
Breast milk
Breastfeeding & lactation
CARIBBEAN
Child care
Children
Developing nations
Estimation methods
Feeding Practices
FERTILITY
Food
FOOD AND SHORTAGES
Food security
Food supply
INCOME
Infant
Infants
INFANTS AND CHILDREN
LATIN AMERICA
LDCs
Mathematical analysis
Mothers
Nutrition
ORGANIZED COLLECTIVE ARGUMENT
Philippines
PUBLIC POLICY
REPRESENTATION
RURAL AREAS, PEOPLE, ETC
Sampling distributions
SOUTH AMERICA
Statistical analysis
Studies
SURVEY DATA AND POLLING DATA
Surveys
UNIVERSAL TO MAN
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Summary:A conceptual framework based on the household production approach is used to model the choice of infant-feeding technique. The infant-feeding decision is presented as a joint selection of breast milk, breast milk substitutes, and supplemental foods. The model is estimated using data from a 1978 household survey (involving 1,903 households) and a 1981 community survey (of 518 government, private, and traditional medical facilities or practitioners and 73 stores) conducted in 100 randomly selected communities in the Bicol region of the Philippines. Analysis reveals that changes in breast-feeding behavior are the indirect result of the gradual supplementation of the child's diet with breast milk substitutes after the first few months. Specifically, the independent variables appear not to influence breast-feeding behavior strongly per se, but to affect the feeding of breast milk substitutes and the timing of supplementation with solid food, which in turn work in a somewhat diluted manner on breast feeding.
ISSN:0013-0079
1539-2988
DOI:10.1086/451509