The impact of kin, friend and neighbor networks on infant feeding practices : Cuban, Puerto Rican and Anglo families in Florida

This paper uses social networks as the major conceptual device to examine the impact of relatives, friends and neighbors on infant feeding practices. Kin, friend and neighbor networks of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Anglo families in Dade County, Florida, are described, noting inter-ethnic differences in network members who provide respondents with infant feeding advice and assistance. The geographical proximity of influential network members is shown to effect the impact that health care professionals have on mothers' decisions about feeding practices. Network influences on specific feeding practices also are discussed. Kin, friend and neighbor networks are shown to have a significant impact on decisions surrounding breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, use of sucrose supplements and the time to introduce solid foods into the baby's diet. Network member's advice and encouragement appears to contribute to a successful lactation experience. Applying the Fisher's exact test to a small subsample, however, does not yield a significant association between presence or absence of network support and lactation outcome.