Table 4 Maternal and child characteristics and rates of exclusive breastfeeding infants of 6 months and below in Malawi (n = 2059)
Variables | EBF n (%) | No EBF n (%) | Uncorrected Chi(2) Design based (F statistic) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Age of mothers (years) | ||||
15 to 24 | 503 (24.6%) | 531 (25.9%) | 28.0603 | |
25 to 34 | 399 (19.5%) | 356 (17.4%) | 10.5424 | < 0.0001 |
35 and above | 173 (8.4%) | 85 (4.2%) | ||
Education of mothers | ||||
No education | 143 (6.9%) | 109 (5.3%) | 7.3585 | 0.2063 |
Primary | 683 (33.4%) | 672 (32.8%) | 1.5265 | |
Secondary | 229 (11.2%) | 180 (8.8%) | ||
Higher | 20 (0.9%) | 12 (0.6%) | ||
Religion of mothers | ||||
Muslim | 184 (9.0%) | 147 (7.2%) | 14.6223 | |
Christian | 889 (43.3%) | 823 (40.2%) | 1.5587 | 0.1551 |
Other | 4 (0.4%) | 4 (0.2%) | ||
Region of mothers | ||||
Northern region | 117 (5.7%) | 106 (5.2%) | 0.8370 | |
Central region | 419 (20.5%) | 398 (19.4%) | 0.3103 | 0.7222 |
Southern region | 538 (26.3%) | 468 (22.9%) | ||
Employment status of mothers | ||||
Yes | 485 (28.8%) | 580 (28.4%) | 4.8316 | |
No | 589 (23.7%) | 392 (19.2%) | 2.9592 | 0.0858 |
Ethnicity of mothers | ||||
Chewa | 340 (16.6%) | 364 (17.8%) | ||
Tumbuka | 116 (5.7%) | 78 (3.8%) | ||
Lomwe | 178 (8.7%) | 186 (9.1%) | ||
Tonga | 18 (0.9%) | 15 (0.8%) | ||
Yao | 177 (8.7%) | 151 (7.4%) | 27.8252 | 0.0150 |
Sena | 42 (2.1%) | 43 (2.1%) | 2.2981 | |
Nkhonde | 6 (0.3%) | 4 (0.2%) | ||
Ngoni | 146 (7.1%) | 78 (3.8%) | ||
Mang’anja | 29 (1.4%) | 30 (1.5%) | ||
Nyanja | 11 (0.6%) | 10 (0.5%) | ||
Other | 11 (0.6%) | 15 (0.7%) | ||
Wealth index of mothers | ||||
Poorest | 265 (12.92%) | 247 (12.1%) | ||
poorer | 224 (10.95%) | 236 (11.5%) | ||
Middle | 209 (10.21%) | 179 (8.7%) | 9.3469 | 0.1895 |
Richer | 183 (8.93%) | 177 (8.7%) | 1.5405 | |
Richest | 194 (9.48%) | 134 (6.6%) | ||
Marital status | ||||
Never in union | 63 (3.1%) | 73 (3.6%) | 11.4396 | 0.1786 |
Married | 930 (45.4%) | 800 (39.1%) | 1.5309 | |
Widowed/Divorced | 82 (4.0%) | 99 (4.9%) | ||
Sex of Infants | ||||
Male | 496 (24.3%) | 522 (25.5%) | 11.3317 | 0.0093 |
Female | 578 (28.3%) | 451 (22.0%) | 6.8016 | |
Number of children | ||||
1–2 | 515 (25.2%) | 571 (27.9%) | 24.8405 | 0.0004 |
3–4 | 332 (15.2%) | 252 (12.3%) | 8.0104 | |
5 and above | 228 (11.1%) | 150 (7.3%) | ||