Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T22:56:58.821Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Maternal nutrition, prolonged lactation and birth spacing in Ethiopia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

R. Jane Wenlock  and
R. W. Wenlock
R. Jane Wenlock
Affiliation:
Freedom from Hunger Campaign Applied Nutrition Project, Gondar, Ethiopia
R. W. Wenlock
Affiliation:
Freedom from Hunger Campaign Applied Nutrition Project, Gondar, Ethiopia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Data from 375 Ethiopian mothers show lactations of between 25 and 30 months in the majority, very prolonged even by African standards. Maternal nutritional status, as shown by body weights, was low due to very low food energy intakes. With frequent suckling already raising prolactin levels, these very low energy intakes may also result in yet more prolactin secretion. New pregnancies are delayed and birth intervals extended beyond normal African standards by all these factors.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , July 1981 , pp. 261 - 268
Copyright
Copyright © 1981, Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adegbola, O. (1977) New estimates of fertility and child mortality in Africa, south of the Sahara. Popul. Stud. 31, 467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Billewicz, W.Z. (1979) The timing of post-partum menstruation and breast feeding: a simple formula. J. biosoc. Sci. 11, 141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bongaarts, J. (1980) Does malnutrition affect fecundity? A summary of evidence. Science, N.Y. 208, 564.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bonte, M. & Van Balen, H. (1969) Prolonged lactation and family spacing in Rwanda. J. biosoc. Sci. 1, 97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chavez, A. & Martinez, C. (1973) Nutrition and development of infants from poor rural areas. III. Maternal nutrition and its consequences on fertility. Nutr. Rept. Internal. 7, 1.Google ScholarPubMed
Delgado, H., Lechtig, A., Martorell, R., Brineman, E. & Klein, R.E. (1978) Nutrition, lactation and post-partum amenorrhea. Am. J. clin. Nutr. 31, 322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ethiopian Central Statistical Office. (1967) National Survey of Ethiopia—Urban Population Census 1965–1966. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Fahmy, M.A. (1976) African Population Projections 1970–2000 Lusaka. Ministry of Local Government, Lusaka, Zambia.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organisation (1974) Report on Project Results, Conclusions and Recommendations: Terminal Report. National Food and Nutrition Programme of Zambia. FAO, Rome.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organisation (1911) Population, Nutrition and Food Data Analysis of the Surveys. National Food and Nutrition Programme of Zambia. FAO, Rome.Google Scholar
Gopalan, G. & Naidu, A.M. (1972) Nutrition and fertility. Lancet, ii, 1077.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, G.A., Kuchemann, C.F., Moore, M.A.S., Boyce, A.J., Baju, T., Mourant, A.E., Godber, M.J., Glasgow, B.G., Kopéc, A.C., Tills, D. & Clegg, E.J. (1969). The effects of altitudinal variation of Ethiopian populations. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 256, 147.Google Scholar
Huffman, S.L., Aluddin Chowdhury, S.K.M., Chakraborty, J. & Mosley, W.H. (1978) Nutrition and post-partum amenorrhea in rural Bangladesh. Popul. Stud. 32, 251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jelliffe, D.B. & Jelliffe, E.F.P. (1978) Human Milk in the Modern World. Oxford University Press, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Konner, M. & Worthman, C. (1980) Nursing frequencies, gonadal function, and birth spacing among! Kung hunter gatherers. Science, N.Y. 207, 788.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lechtig, A., Delgado, H., Lasky, R.E., Klein, R.E., Engle, P.L., Yarbough, C. & Habicht, J-P. (1975) Maternal nutrition and fetal growth in developing societies. Socioeconomic factors. Am. J. Dis. Child. 129, 434.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lunn, P.G., Prentice, A.M., Austin, S. & Whitehead, R.G. (1980) Influence of maternal diet on plasma prolactin levels during lactation. Lancet, i, 623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mccance, R.A. (1978) How much do we really know about our requirements for energy and protein? Ind. J. nutr. Res. 15, 402.Google Scholar
McKeag, R.J. (1974) A Survey of Pre-school Children in an Ethiopian Roadside Town to Demonstrate an Error Inherent in the Use of Standards to Assess Factors Affecting Nutritional Status. PhD thesis, University of London.Google Scholar
Miller, D.S., Baker, J.D., Bowden, M., Evans, E., Holt, J., McKeag, R.J., Meinertzhagen, I., Mumford, P.M., Oddy, D.J., Rivers, J.P.W., Sevenhuysen, G., Stock, M.J., Watts, M., Kebede, A., Wolde-Gabriel, Y. & Wolde-Gabriel, Z. (1976) The Ethiopia applied nutrition project. Proc. R. Soc. B. 140, 578.Google Scholar
Oddy, D.J. & Baker, J.D. (1973) Some aspects of the social-economic structure of two towns in the Simien region of Ethiopia. J. Ethiopian Stud. 11, 161.Google Scholar
Paul, A.A., Muller, E.M. & Whitehead, R.G. (1979) The quantitative effects of maternal dietary energy intake on pregnancy and lactation in rural Gambian women. Trans. R. Soc. trop. Med. Hyg. 73, 686.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perma, K., Naidu, A.N. & Kumari, S.N. (1979) Lactation and fertility. Am. J. clin. Nutr. 32, 1298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, R.G. (1963) Birth intervals and structure. Popul. Stud. 17, 155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosa, F.W. (1976) Breast feeding in family planning. PAG Bulletin, 5, 5.Google Scholar
Tietze, C. (1961) The effect of breast feeding on the rate of conception. Proc. Int. Pop. Conference, 2, 129. International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, London.Google Scholar
Wenlock, R.W. (1977) Birth spacing and prolonged lactation in rural Zambia. J. biosoc. Sci. 9, 481.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wenlock, R.W. (1979a) Social factors, nutrition and child mortality in a rural subsistence economy. Ecol. Food & Nutr. 8, 227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wenlock, R.W. (1979b) Food intakes and nutritional status—implications for the formulation of development policies for Zambia. Ecol. Food & Nutr. 7, 203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organisation (1979) Collaborative Study on Breast Feeding. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar