Predictors of the Duration of Breastfeeding in Low‐income Women

To determine those factors that predicted the duration of breastfeeding in low income women, 47 participants in the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) who had breastfed an infant were interviewed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stepwise multiple regression. A combination of four variables—age of the infant in weeks at the time of introduction of solid foods, maternal report of perceived success, the mother's years of education, and age of the infant in weeks at the time of introduction of formula—explained 52 percent of the variance in the duration of breastfeeding. The best predictor, the age of the infant at the time of introduction of solid foods, alone accounted for 32 percent of the variance in the duration of breastfeeding.