U.S. Breastfeeding Outcomes at the Intersection: Differences in Duration Among Racial and Ethnic Groups With Varying Educational Attainment in a Nationally Representative Sample

Abstract

Background: As breastfeeding rates in the United States increase, barriers persist for Black, Latine, and low-socioeconomic status household dyads when compared to White and high-socioeconomic status household dyads. Previous breastfeeding disparities research has almost exclusively considered the influence of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status separately, although these attributes are not randomly distributed across the population. Research Aim: To identify breastfeeding duration patterns by race/ethnicity and educational attainment in a nationally representative U.S. National Immunization Survey sample. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2020 National Immunization Survey–Child public-use data. To examine breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding durations at the intersection of race/ethnicity and educational attainment, we created a 12-item, cross-classified variable using three educational attainment groups and four race/ethnicity groups. We used linear regressions to test these associations. Results: In all, 83% of the sample breastfed. Mean durations of breastfeeding were 7.5 ( SE = 1.95) months and exclusive breastfeeding duration was 4.9 ( SE = 0.87) months. In adjusted models, multi-race/other high-educational attainment participants had the longest breastfeeding duration by almost 3 weeks (β: 19.53, 95% CI [5.27, 33.79]), and Black low-educational attainment participants exclusively breastfed for 1 month less than White high-educational attainment participants (β:−30.23, 95% CI [−40.87, −19.58]). Conclusions: Examining race/ethnicity and educational attainment together provides an intersectional understanding of breastfeeding outcomes and can inform targeted, culturally appropriate interventions.