Analysis of Socio-Demographic Factors on Breastfeeding Practices

This report examines the socio-demographic factors influencing breastfeeding rates in the UK, highlighting the adverse health outcomes for both infants and mothers due to low breastfeeding prevalence. The report identifies education and economic status as key factors affecting breastfeeding practices, particularly among vulnerable populations. It analyzes the disparities in breastfeeding rates across different socio-economic groups and emphasizes the importance of health promotion strategies to increase awareness and improve health literacy. The study utilizes Beattie's model and the Ottawa Charter to develop effective health promotion interventions, focusing on community awareness campaigns and the role of nurses in educating and supporting mothers. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for comprehensive strategies to address health inequalities and improve breastfeeding rates for better infant and maternal health outcomes.

Running head: SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON BREAST FEEDING
SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON BREAST FEEDING
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON BREAST FEEDING
Introduction:
According to World health organization (2019), breast feeding is considered as one of the
best way to feed the infants and to meet their nutritional demands. Poor breast feeding or lack of
breast feeding among the infants can lead to adverse health outcomes for the infants as well as
for the mothers (Victora et al. 2016). In the case of infants who are not breastfed appropriately
risk of obesity, leukemia, type 1 and type 2 diabetes and infant death syndrome (Simpson et al.
2019). It is due to the lack of essential nutrients which is required for the proper nutrition of the
infants that could only be provided from the mother’s milk and along with that breast milk also
produces anti-bodies which help the baby to fight from any infectious disease. In the case of the
mother, reduction in breastfeeding rate elevates the risk of chronic illness such as,
premenopausal breast cancer. Rendering to the research conducted by Vijayalakshmi, Susheela
and Mythili (2015), the socio-demographic factors of the mother is one of the major factors that
affects breast feeding among the infants. Socio-demographic factors in this context are referred
to as the educational achievement of the individual and the occupational status (Porta et al.
2016). The primary focus of the assignment is to understand the socio-demographic factors that
impact the breastfeeding among the individual. Infants below the age of 12 months are most
vulnerable to different chronic illness due to lack of fully developed immunity system, requires
breast milk to get the adequate amount of nutrition and anti-bodies and hence are included in the
research. Breast feeding rate in the individual who belongs to the poor economic status and low
literacy level are low due to poor lactation and poor knowledge regarding the advantage of breast
feeding and hence are selected as respondents. After that the health promotion strategy which aid
to promote effective approach to solve the health issue by educating the population about the

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health issue has also been included in the assignment. The framework which has been used to
promote awareness regarding the health issue is Beattie’s model and the Ottawa Charter.
Identification of the health issue:
Breast feeding is measured as one of the most operative method to meet the nutritional
demands of the infant and along with that it also provides protection to the mothers against
several chronic illnesses such as, ovarian cancer, breast cancer and metabolic disorder
(Woolridge 2017). By critically analyzing the survey conducted by Royal College of Pediatrics
and Child Health (2019), it is detected that the frequency of breast feeding among the UK
population is lower as compared to the other countries. The prevalence rate of the breast feeding
among the UK population is 34%, whereas it is 49% among the US population and 71% in
Norway. The statistics suggests that 81% of mothers among the UK population initiate breast
feeding during the birth of the child, but the rate remarkably decreased to 34% and around 0.5%
at six month and 12 month respectively. The prevalence rate of breast feeding is observed to be
low in the most deprived region (46%) as compared to the individual who are from the least
deprived region. As per the research conducted by Pokhrel et al. (2015), it is recorded that the
educational qualification of the mothers possesses an impact on the breast feeding issue.
Population affected:
According to Tshering et al. (2019), lack or absence of breast feeding is considered to
pose adverse impression on the mental and physical health of the mothers and the infants below
the age group of 12 months. According to the study done by Victora et al. (2016), one of the
most vulnerable populations who get affected by such disease due to poor breast feeding is the
individual who belongs to poor socio-demographic status such as lower literacy rate and

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economic status. The individual who belong to the poor economic status does not get appropriate
food leading to poor lactation which can be encountered as the possible cause for the reduction
of breast feeding rate. The rate of breast feeding is also found to be reduced in the individual
having low literacy level due to poor awareness regarding the advantage of breast feeding in
infants.
According to the study conducted by UNICEF (2019) United Kingdom has the minimum
breast feeding rate around the world. According to the survey conducted by Infant Feeding
Survey (2010), 69% of the mothers were involved in exclusive breastfeeding who had birth at
2010 and the rate is observed to decrease to around 1%. The highest incidence rate of breast
feeding is observed among the minority ethnic groups, literate groups, which is 97% and 95%
respectively and lowest rate is observed among the illiterate groups (91%) and those who belong
to the deprived areas and poor economic status (89%).
According to Ergin and Kunst (2015), health inequalities are observed maximum in the
case of individuals who belong to the poor economic status and possess low educational
qualification. Hence, it can be stated that the social determinants which are responsible for the
health inequalities which leads to adverse effect due to poor breast feeding includes, cultural
aspects, literacy, race and economic status (Preda and Voigt 2015).
Health promotion is considered as one of the most effective way to increase awareness
among the individual having low health literacy. Health promotion can be conducted in various
ways such as, by conducting awareness camps, pamphlets, videos and surveys (Griebler et al.
2017). The primary advantage of the health promotion is to enhance the health literacy of the
population which impacts the public health in a positive manner (McCormack et al. 2017). They

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are not aware about the risks and consequences of the poor breast health issue. According to
them it seems normal and not a major health concern. Hence, it is important to make them aware
about the consequences of poor breastfeeding in the physical and mental health of mother and
infants.
The health promotion is initiated by considering the cultural, educational and economic
background of the targeted population, so that they feel their importance and can relate them to
the fact stated in the health promotion campaign (Hubley and Copeman 2018).
As the target population in this case is individuals who belong to low socioeconomic
status and the individuals from deprived areas. Therefore community awareness camps should be
created on those areas, where they can travel easily and does not have to spend on travelling to
big cities to attend the awareness camps. Apart from that, the targeted populations are also from
low economic status, due to which that are not able to access the primary health care service
which hinders their physical and mental health (Baldisserotto et al. 2016).
According to (Office for National Statistics 2019) the mortality rate of both male and
females is higher in the individual from most deprived areas as compared to that of the least
deprived areas. The mortality rate of male and female in most deprived areas is 75.7 and 60.8
deaths per 100,000 individual, whereas, it is 11.7 and 8.0 deaths per 100,000 in case of
individual from least deprived areas.
In order to do enhance the health outcomes, it is vital to develop the health promotion;
Beattie health promotion model is used. Health promotion and the Ottawa Charter are used
(Thompson, Watson and Tilford 2018).

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Beattie health promotion model is a complex analytical health promotion model which
recognizes that the health promotion remains embedded in the wider cultural and social
practices. It provides nurse with the ability and resource to evaluate new strategies for the
successful implementation of the health promotion. It consists of four quadrants which tend to
represent different ways by the aid of which health outcomes of the group can be enhanced. The
two axes represent mode of intervention and focus of intervention. The top-down axes is
generally used by the healthcare professionals, where recommendation regarding the health
education and behavioral change are made by considering the social determinants responsible for
the health deterioration.
By implementing the Beattie’s model 1991, the recommendations are made which will
help in enhancing the prevalence rate of breast feeding among the target population.
The Ottawa charter is also used to formulate the recommendations as according to the
World Health Organization (2019), the Ottawa Charter for the health promotion (1986), aims to
incorporate change by focusing on the socio-ecological approach for elevating the health
promotion and the health education. According to the Ottawa charter states that major health
gain are associated with the socio-living perspective of the population. Hence, by considering the
facts, the Ottawa charter focuses on nine prerequisites for the health which includes peace,
education, shelter, food, income, sustainable resources, ecosystem, health equity and social
justice (Maitland and Rosenberg 2018). After the completion of the health promotion, the
questionnaire is distributed among the populations to assess the efficiency of the health
promotion programs (Eldredge et al. 2016).

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In the health promotion, the ethical and legal factors are considered to avoid any future
legal and legal complications. As breast feeding is a controversial term, hence the privacy of the
population group which has been included in the promotion is maintained (Sankar and Parker
2017). The individuals are also not forced to involve in the health promotion as it violates the
autonomy of the population (Tiruneh, Chuang and Chuang 2017). Therefore their consent should
be considered before involving them into the health promotion. Apart from that, informed
consent is also taken from the other stakeholders such as, nurse, health practitioners, community
members and the social worker (Botkin et al. 2015).
The primary purpose of the nurse is to enhance the health condition of the individual who
is either suffering from any illness or at the high risk of getting infected with any illness
(Edelman, Mandle and Kudzma 2017). In this case, as discussed above the socio-demographic
factors is responsible for the reduction in breast feeding rate, hence in the health promotion, the
population were made aware about the health issue. The nurse should make the population more
aware about the social determinants such as, poverty, education and age and its impact on the
breast feeding rate. In order to do that nurse should engage in a professional relationship with the
patient with the aid of effective communication skill (Arnold and Boggs 2019). The nurse should
apply face to face communication to gather more information regarding the perception on poor
breast feeding (Mitchell 2015). Apart from that, the nurse should also conduct survey after the
health promotion program to assess the learning the populations gained after the health
promotion program. During the health promotion, the nurse should encourage public to involve
in the health promotion program and to follow the strategies that has been discussed during the
health promotion program (World Health Organization 2016). The community nurse should also
be involved in the health promotion for better result as they can communicate more effectively

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with the community members or the individual who belongs to the different communities or
deprived areas.
Conclusion:
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the breast feeding rate in the United
Kingdom is less as compared to that of the other countries which leads to adverse health outcome
in case of both mothers and the infants. From the above discussion, it can be stated that the
socio-demographic factor of the population are also responsible for the reduction in rate of breast
feeding. By analyzing the different survey result, it is witnessed that the poor breast feeding can
lead to enhance the infant mortality rate and it is most prevalent in the individual who have low
educational qualification or belongs to poor socio-economic status and the major reason behind
their health condition is their low health literacy. Therefore, in order to do that, it is vital to
enhance their health literacy which can be done by the help of health promotion. With the help of
that, they will get to understand the severity of the issue their risks and impacts. The Ottawa
charter for the health promotion is implemented for the health promotion. The ethical perspective
of the participants that is selected for the health promotion is considered to avoid any future
complications. The nurse plays an essential role throughout the whole process in the
implementation of the health promotion camps.
Recommendation:
1. By the aid of the Beattie’s model, the target population will be educated about the socio-
economic determinants that impact the breast feeding rate and also about the importance of
breast feeding among the infants especially till six months.

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2. Healthcare policy should also be generated by focusing on the complications experienced by
the target population and also aim to enhance the breast feeding rate among the infants below
the age group of 12 months in the United Kingdom.
3. Supportive environments should be created which can be done by making them aware about
the negative consequences of the poor breast feeding result and consequences.
4. The populations are made aware about the strategy with the help of which they can prevent
the adverse impact of the poor breast feeding among the infants and the mothers.
5. To strengthen the actions of the community, the health literacy of the populations is
enhanced so that they can take health related decision on their own.
6. As specified in the Ottawa charter by World Health Organization for the health promotion
which aims to reorient the health services. In order to conduct that, access of the primary
healthcare facilities should be enhanced.

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