School of Public Health
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1633
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
Note: Prior to July 1, 2007, the School of Public Health was named the College of Health & Human Performance.
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Item Familial sources of encouragement and breast-feeding practices among women participating in the US Special Supplemental Nutrition Programme for Women, Infants and Children(Cambridge University Press, 2023-04-05) Channell Doig, Amara; Aparicio, Elizabeth M; Gallo, SinaObjective: To explore how sources of familial encouragement are associated with breast-feeding initiation and duration among a national sample participating in the US Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Design: This study uses the 2013–2015 WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study 2 (WIC ITFPS-2) data. Breast-feeding initiation was measured at the first month, while duration was derived from a composite of the first 13 months. The analysis used logistic and linear regression to explore the association between encouragement sources and breast-feeding outcomes. Setting: A nationally representative sample of WIC participants in the USA. Participants: WIC participants who completed the 13-month interview of the WIC ITFPS-2 (n 2807). Results: Encouragement was significantly associated with both initiation and duration. Each source of encouragement was associated with a 3·2 (95 % CI 2·8, 3·8) increase in odds of initiating breast-feeding in the unadjusted model and 3·0 (95 % CI 2·5, 3·6) increased odds, controlling for age, education, nativity, poverty status, race and ethnicity (<0·0001). When predicting log duration, each percent increase in source of encouragement was associated with an increasing duration on average by 0·003 d (95 % CI 0·2, 0·3, <0·0001). When controls were added, it was associated with an increase of an average of 0·002 d (95 % CI 0·2, 0·3) per percent increase in encouragement source (<0·0001). Conclusions: Women who receive encouragement appear to be more likely to breastfeed. Additional work is needed to explore sources of encouragement and how to include them in intervention work.Item Birth Outcomes of Immigrant and Native-born Hispanic Women: Role of Prenatal Care Utilization and Participation in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program(2015) Sana, Hoda; Koblinsky, Sally; Hofferth, Sandra; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In recent years, immigration to the U.S. from Central America and Mexico has increased substantially. This trend is evident in Prince George’s County, Maryland, which has growing numbers of both Hispanic immigrants and native-born Hispanic Americans. From 2011 to 2012, the infant mortality rate among Hispanics in Prince George’s County rose from 3.0 to 5.5 per 1,000 live births. The County lacked information about how birth outcomes were related to immigrant/native-born status and utilization of maternal health services, including receipt of adequate prenatal care and participation in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. Previous studies have found that immigrant Hispanic women have better birth outcomes than native-born women (the “Hispanic Paradox”), but it is not known whether this pattern occurs in Prince George’s County. This study examined the association between immigrant status and two birth outcomes: preterm birth and infant low birth weight (LBW). It focused on how Hispanic women’s immigrant status (immigrant/native-born) was related to their use of prenatal care and WIC participation, as well as the association between these maternal health services and two infant birth outcomes. A major goal of the study was to assess whether or not adequate prenatal care and WIC participation mediated the relationship between women’s immigrant status and birth outcomes. Data from the 2011-2012 birth certificates of 4,971 Hispanic women in Prince George’s County were used to test study hypotheses. Findings revealed that native-born Hispanic women were significantly more likely to obtain adequate prenatal care than their immigrant peers, while immigrants were significantly more likely to enroll in WIC. Adequate prenatal care failed to predict either preterm birth or infant LBW, but WIC enrollment was significantly associated with lower likelihood of infant LBW. Consistent with the Hispanic Paradox, immigrant Hispanic women had significantly better birth outcomes than their native-born peers. WIC participation partially mediated the relationship between immigration status and infant LBW. Approximately 7% of the association between being an immigrant and reduced infant LBW was explained by WIC participation. Findings may assist policymakers and practitioners in designing interventions to reduce negative birth outcomes in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and the nation.