Abstract Summary/Description
The World Health Organization and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) highly recommend exclusive breastfeeding for healthy children to prevent early childhood diseases. The global Infant mortality rate declined from 65 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 26 deaths per 1000 live births in 2023, compared to 55.7 deaths per 1000 live births in Pakistan. This research aims to find the causal relationship of exclusive breastfeeding with diarrhea, fever, and cough utilizing data from the Multi Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2017/2019. Logistic regression analysis shows exclusive breastfeeding is significantly associated (p< 0.05) with diarrhea, fever, and cough. Results show that exclusively breastfed children are 54%, 38%, and 30% less likely to have diarrhea, fever, and cough, respectively. The study controlled for potential prior and intervening variables of the mother's education level, socioeconomic status, child’s sex, ethnicity, geography, and residence. These results reveal that mother’s milk is a strong guard for children against major illnesses due to its nutritional content and helps avoid other supplementary liquid and solid food during these crucial months. This research recommends that federal and provincial health and social welfare departments, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders focus on improving the rate of exclusive breastfeeding, which is currently 56%. This will help children avoid life-threatening illnesses in the first 6 months and build a healthy base for the rest of their lives.
