# Evaluating the association between duration of breastfeeding and fine motor development among children aged 20 to 24 months in Butajira, Ethiopia: a case-control study

## TL;DR

This study in Ethiopia found no significant link between breastfeeding duration and fine motor development in toddlers, but identified other factors like mother's age and education as important.

## Contribution

The study contributes new evidence on breastfeeding duration and motor development in a specific Ethiopian population.

## Key findings

- Breastfeeding duration from 21 to 24 months was not significantly associated with fine motor delay.
- Mother's age, education, child's gender, and home score were significantly associated with fine motor delay.
- Improving maternal education and addressing gender disparities are recommended for better child development.

## Abstract

A Suitable environment and proper child nutrition are paramount to a child’s physical and mental development. Different environmental factors contribute to proper child development. Breast milk is an important source of nutrition during the early years of life and contains essential nutrients that are the building blocks for growth and development.

To assess the association between the duration of breastfeeding and fine motor development among children aged 20 to 24 months living in Butajira, southern Ethiopia.

Community-based case-control study design was employed among mother-child dyads of children aged 20 to 24 months in Butajira Southern Ethiopia. Children were screened for fine motor delay using the Denver II developmental screening and identified as cases and controls. A repeated visit was done to gather the rest of the information and 332 samples, 83 cases, and 249 controls were available and assessed. Epi-data version 4.4.2.1 software was used to prepare a data entry template, which was later exported to and analyzed using STATA version 14 statistical software. Finally, a Multivariable logistic regression model was used to adjust for confounders and estimate the independent effect of breastfeeding duration on fine motor development.

We didn’t find a significant association between the duration of breastfeeding from 21 to 24 months and fine motor delay compared to children who were breastfed less than 18 months[AOR: 0.86, 95% CI: (0.36, 2.05)]. Children who have mothers > 35 years of age were 78% less likely than children who had mothers younger than 25 years, Children who had mothers in secondary school and above were 77% less likely than mothers who didn’t have formal education, Females were 1.86 times more likely than males, and Children who scored 20–29 on the Home score were 51% less likely than Children who scored < 20 to have fine motor delay.

Duration of breastfeeding was not significantly associated with fine motor delay for children aged 20 to 24 months old. The age of the mother, the educational status of the mother, being female, and Home score were identified to have a significant association with fine motor delay. Improving the educational status and empowerment of women is essential. Further work should be done on avoiding gender differences starting from a young age and creating a conducive environment for child development is crucial.