Feeding practices and diarrhoea in children under two in Java and Bali, 1991

This study investigates infant feeding and diarrhoea based on data from the Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey 1991. The main objectives of the study are to investigate infant feeding practices and the prevalence of diarrhoea among children aged below two years in Java and Bali and the interrelationship between these two variables.

Using descriptive statistics, it was found that almost all children in this study were breastfed. In accordance with breastfeeding, supplementary feeding (both bottlemilk and supplementary foods) have been given at early ages. These findings c on firm those of previous infant feeding studies in Java. The prevalence of diarrhoea does not show variations by provinces.

Inferential statistics from crosstabulation techniques reveal that there is a significant association between infant feeding and diarrhoea, with the practice of giving a mixture of foods (breastmilk and others) appearing to increase the risk of diarrhoea. The relevant covariates related to the probability of children being breastfed are type of residence, mother's education, working status of mother, and use of contraception. The covariates for the probability of having diarrhoea are feeding mode, mother's education, and use of contraceptive methods.