Do breastfeeding practices correlate with childhood diarrhoea? Multiple data analyses using national surveys in Ghana

Abstract Background: Breastfeeding is a natural intervention that tends to have a protective effect on the occurrence of diarrhoea in children. In environments where breastfeeding is suboptimal coupled with the early introduction of complementary foods, children are at a higher risk of experiencing diarrhoea. This study examined whether breastfeeding practices are associated with childhood diarrhoea in Ghana using multiple secondary datasets. Methods: The study used Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) 2003, 2008 and 2014 datasets. These datasets contain data on women and issues related to children who were two years of age (0-23 months). An appended weighted sample of 4,675 mother-child pairs was used for the analyses. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between breastfeeding practices (including other explanatory variables) and childhood diarrhoea.Results: Children who were not exclusively breastfed had higher odds of experiencing diarrhoea. These categories of children most likely to be exposed to diarrhoea included those who were not breastfeeding (OR = 3.382, 95% CI = 2.019, 4.820), predominantly breastfeeding (OR = 1.824, 95% CI = 1.198, 2.777), and partially breastfeeding (OR = 2.795, 95% CI = 1.931, 4.047).Conclusions: Findings for this study further affirms to the protective effect breastfeeding has against childhood diarrhoea. Exclusive breastfeeding and at times predominant breastfeeding could prevent or minimize diarrhoea compare to non-practice of breastfeeding or partial breastfeeding.