Determinants of infant feeding choices among southeast Asian immigrants in northern California.

Objective: This study documents obstacles to successful lactation among Southeast Asian women.

Design: We assessed the infant feeding practices of 65 Hmong and 57 Vietnamese women. The women were recruited and interviewed at clinics of the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and neighborhoods in northern California. Analysis included logistic regression and odds ratios.

Results: Only 5 of the Hmong women and 3 of the Vietnamese women in our initial sample breast-fed their youngest child. Primary reasons for formula-feeding included convenience, the intent to return to work or school (although few did so), desire to allow others to feed, and the expectation of insufficient milk. In addition, most perceived that formula-feeding was more popular in the United States, and 19 of the Vietnamese women believed formula-feeding was healthier than breast-feeding. Variables positively related to breast-feeding included the number of times the mother was enrolled in WIC (for Hmong women) and the number of children previously breast-fed (for both groups). Breast-feeding was negatively related to the total number of children (for Hmong women), maternal age (for Vietnamese women), and receiving formula at the time of discharge from the hospital (for both groups).

Applications/conclusions: Promotion of breast-feeding among Southeast Asian women should focus on increasing the number of women who initiate breast-feeding, addressing attitudes regarding the popularity and convenience of formula-feeding, and discouraging hospital practices that may impede breast-feeding.