Determinants of exclusive breast feeding among women of child bearing age in the Gambia using Gambia demographic and health survey (GDHS) 2019-20 data

Background:all infants are expected to be exclusively breastfed during the first six months of their lives. According to The Gambia nutrition profile 2019, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding among infants under 6 months was only 48.6%. This figure is way above the western Africa average of 31.0% and lower than the national target of 70%. Higher exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rate were observed in Ghana (52.0%) and Togo (58.0%) and the lowest are Nigeria and Ivory Coast Objectives:The aim of this study was to assess the determinants factors of exclusive breast feeding among women of child bearing age in The Gambia through the analysis of GDHS 2019-20. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional study design using the data from the 2019-20 Gambian Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). The population of the study was women of child bearing age in the Gambia during the study and the sample of the study was infants under 6 months at the same time which was 1,372 children of singleton live births. The study used a backward logistic regression for the analysis. Results: The age of the child, antenatal care visits behaviours, pre-lacteal feeding and bottle feeding were the determinant factors of exclusive breastfeeding practices among women of child bearing age in The Gambia. Mothers who had regular antenatal care visits were more likely to practice exclusive breast feeding, compared to those that did not have regular antenatal care visits. Infants who had pre-lacteal feeding were 2.19 times more likely to exclusively breastfeed their children during the first six months of life. Furthermore, mothers who’ve never practiced bottle-feeding before were 15.05 times more likely to practice exclusive breast feeding compared to those who’ve previously practiced bottle feeding.