Breastfeeding decline in urban China: An exploratory study

Retrospective data collected in two urban neighborhoods of Tianjin, People's Republic of China, reveal a decline in the rate and duration of breastfeeding since the mid-1930's. There is no reason to suppose that this decline was stimulated by policies intended to discourage breastfeeding, or by pressures from commercial interests determined to expand the use of milk substitutes or supplements. The evidence indicates that breastfeeding declined as women became involved in work outside the home, as they adopted a form of postmarital residence that separated them from other relatives, as income increased, and as their rural origins decreased. No evidence was found to indicate a relationship between breastfeeding and parity or sex preferences.