The Influence of Immigrant Generation and Acculturation on Breastfeeding Behaviors for U.S. Hispanic Mothers

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Abstract

This paper uses nationally-representative data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to determine the relationship between immigrant generation, acculturation, and breastfeeding behaviors for U.S. Hispanics. While previous research has established a relationship between mother’s nativity and breastfeeding, where foreign-born mothers are significantly more likely to breastfeed and breastfeed longer than their native born counterparts, we are the first to determine the significant differences in breastfeeding behaviors for first, second, and third+ generation Hispanic mothers. Furthermore, given the importance of fathers in mothers’ decisions about breastfeeding, we explore the influence of paternal immigrant generation and level of acculturation. The study uses public data from the baseline and one-year follow up interviews of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, resulting in a sample of 768 births to Hispanic mothers (N=642 for analyses with father variables). The study employs multidimensional measures for acculturation as well as univariate, bivariate, and logistic regression analyses to explore these relationships.
Our findings provide support for an immigrant advantage for breastfeeding initiation and duration for both first and second generation Hispanic mothers, as well as a significant influence of acculturation-related characteristics, including religious attendance, cultural engagement, and traditional gender attitudes. Furthermore, we demonstrate an interesting paternal immigrant advantage as well, where first generation fathers increase the likelihood of the mother ever breastfeeding and breastfeeding for at least 6 months.These findings reflect a need to pay closer attention to the intergenerational differences in breastfeeding behaviors as well as paternal cultural characteristics.

Authors

• Alexandra Veselka-Bush, University of North Texas

• Nichola Driver, University of Arkansas-Little Rock