Duration of breastfeeding among the indigenous Xakriabá people living in the Minas Gerais state, Southeast Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the median duration of breastfeeding in the Xakriabá Indigenous lands and identify the factors related to breastfeeding duration among these people. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted, and data regarding health, breastfeeding, and socio-demographic characteristics of 342 mothers/children living in this Indigenous Land in Minas Gerais in 2007 were collected using a questionnaire. Descriptive data of 317 children who were breastfed for at least one day were obtained, but in order to achieve this study objective, only the questionnaires that were fully completed and referred to children who were breastfed for at least one day were analyzed, i.e., 82.2% (287 children) of the total population of indigenous children under 3 years old (349). Data were analyzed using the Kaplan Meier method and the Cox regression model. RESULTS: The majority of children were male (52.0%), 53.6% were the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd born child, and 94.6% were breastfed as the first form of nutrition. The median duration of exclusive breastfeeding and non-exclusive breastfeeding was 11.73 months and 7.27 days, respectively; the boys and the 4th or further children were weaned earlier. CONCLUSION: In the Xakriabá Indigenous Land, the median duration of exclusive breastfeeding is short and half of the children were weaned at around 12 months of age, and therefore they could no longer reap the nutritional, immunological and functional benefits provided by breast milk. Gender and birth order were associated with the duration of breastfeeding, but further studies are needed to better understand the sociocultural factors related to the duration of breastfeeding in this Indigenous Land.