Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons^™

Obesity During Adolescence And Feeding Practices During Infancy: Cross-Sectional Study, Reem Sharaf-Alddin, Radhia Almathkoori, Hara Kostakis, Ahmed N. Albatineh, Abdullah Al-Taiar, Muge Akpinar-Elci

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Breastfeeding is proposed to play a role in reducing the risk of obesity throughout life. Kuwait has an extremely high prevalence of childhood obesity (45% of adolescents are overweight/obese) and extremely low breastfeeding indicators, particularly exclusive breastfeeding. In fact, little is known about the association between breastfeeding and obesity from Kuwait and the broader Middle East.

Aims: To estimate the prevalence of overweight/obesity in female adolescents in Kuwait and assess its association with breastfeeding during infancy.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included 775 girls randomly selected from public and private high schools in Kuwait. The primary exposure …

Breastfeeding Media Coverage And Beliefs During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Mexico: Implications For Breastfeeding Equity, Mireya Vilar-Compte, P. Gaitán‐Rossi, E. C. Rhodes, V. Cruz‐Villalba, R. Pérez‐Escamilla

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Because breastfeeding offers short- and long- term health benefits to mothers and children, breastfeeding promotion and support is a public health priority. Evidence shows that SARS-CoV-2 is not likely to be transmitted via breastmilk. Moreover, antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are thought to be contained in breastmilk of mothers with history of COVID-19 infection or vaccination. WHO recommends direct breastfeeding as the preferred infant feeding option during the COVID-19 pandemic, even among women with COVID-19; but conflicting practices have been adopted, which could widen existing inequities in breastfeeding. This study aims to describe how information about breastfeeding was communicated in Mexican …

The Yearly Financing Need Of Providing Paid Maternity Leave In The Informal Sector In Indonesia, Adiatma Y. M. Siregar, Pipit Pitriyan, Donny Hardiawan, Paul Zambrano, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Graciela Ma Teruel Belismelis, Meztli Moncada, David Tamayo, Grace Carroll, Rafael Perez-Escamilla, Roger Mathisen

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: The economic cost of not breastfeeding in Indonesia is estimated at US$1.5–9.4 billion annually, the highest in South East Asia. Half of the 33.6 million working women of reproductive age (WRA) in Indonesia (15–49 years) are informal employees, meaning they are working as casual workers or they are self-employed (small scale business) and assisted by unpaid/family worker(s). No specific maternity protection entitlements are currently available for WRA working informally in Indonesia. This study aims to estimate the financing need of providing maternity leave cash transfer (MCT) for WRA working in the informal sector in Indonesia. Method: The costing methodology …

The Financing Need For Expanding Paid Maternity Leave To Support Breastfeeding In The Informal Sector In The Philippines, Valerie Gilbert Ulep, Paul Zambrano, Janice Datu-Sanguyo, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Graciela Materuel Belismelis, Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Grace J. Carrol, Roger Mathisen

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

In low- and middle-income countries, almost three-fourths of women in the labour force lack maternity protection. In the Philippines, current laws do not guarantee paid maternity leave to workers in the informal economy. A non-contributory maternity cash transfer to informal sector workers could be used to promote social equity and economic productivity and could provide health benefits by helping mothers meet their breastfeeding goals. The objective of the study is to provide a realistic cost estimate and to assess the financial feasibility of implementing a publicly financed, non-contributory maternity cash transfer programme to the informal sector in the Philippines. Using …

How Much Can Mexican Healthcare Providers Learn About Breastfeeding Through A Semi-Virtual Training? A Propensity Score Matching Analysis, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Meztli Moncada, Diana Flores

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Mexico has shown a worrisome decrease in breastfeeding indicators, especially in the lowest socioeconomic level. Improving breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support services through workforce development is a key area of intervention. The objective of this study is to assess the influence on breastfeeding knowledge and abilities of a semi-virtual training for primary healthcare providers assisting beneficiaries of PROSPERA in Mexico, which is one of the largest conditional cash-transfer programs in the world. Methods: Two independent cross-sectional samples of healthcare providers were drawn at baseline and post-intervention in three states of Mexico. Baseline data were collected among primary physicians, registered …

Costing A Maternity Leave Cash Transfer To Support Breastfeeding Among Informally Employed Mexican Women, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Graciela Teruel, Diana Flores, Grace J. Carroll, Gabriela S. Buccini, Rafael Pe ́Rez-Escamilla

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Investing in maternity protection for working women is an important social equity mechanism. Addressing the maternity leave needs of women employed in the informal sector economy should be a priority as more than half of women in Latin America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa are employed in this sector.

Objective: To develop a costing methodology framework to assess the financial feasibility, at the national level, of implementing a maternity cash transfer for informally employed women.

Methods: A World Bank costing methodology was adapted for estimating the financial need to establish a maternity cash transfer benefit. The methodology estimates the …

The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, Kathryn E. Brackett

Senior Honors Theses

Abstract

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a worldwide movement started by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that is aimed at providing hospitals with a certification that guarantees the best possible patient-centered care for mothers and infants. It focuses on breastfeeding as optimal infant nutrition, and implements strategies to encourage and support mothers to breastfeed their infants exclusively for six months after birth. The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are a set of 10 simple, easy to understand guidelines developed by WHO and UNICEF for implementing this initiative in the hospital setting and …

Optimising Maternal Sources Of Breastfeeding During The First Six Weeks Of Postpartum, Roslyn Tarrant, Katherine Younger, Margaret Sheridan-Pereira, John M. Kearney

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.