Health Inequalities |
Relation between the socioeconomic status of the family and primary allergy prevention in infant feeding in Hajdú-Bihar County, Hungary
Gabriella Páll1, Margit Szövetes2, Hajnalka Márton3, Istvánné Molnár4, Zoltán Vokó5, Erzsébet Szakos6, Sándor Sipka6, István Ilyés3, Gyula Szegedi6,7 and Gabriella Pásti4
1 National Institute of Child Health, Hungary
2 Primary Health Care Service of Debrecen, Hungary
3 Department of Family Medicine, Medical and Health Science Centre, University of Debrecen, Hungary
4 National Public Health Service, Hajdú-Bihar County, Hungary
5 School of Public Health, Medical and Health Science Centre, University of Debrecen, Hungary
6 3rd Department of Internal Medicine, Medical and Health Science Centre, University of Debrecen, Hungary
7 Hungarian Academy of Sciences, University of Debrecen, Research Team of Autoimmune Diseases
Correspondence: Dr Gabriella Páll, Batsányi J. u. 1, Gödöllö, H-2100 Hungary, tel: +36 365 1540 131, fax: +36 1 209 3337, e-mail: gabipall{at}ogyei.hu
Background: The relationship between socioeconomic status and preventive care is an important issue in public health practice in Hungary. Our aim was to investigate the association between the socioeconomic status and the present practice of primary allergy prevention in infant feeding in Hajdú-Bihar County, Hungary. Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was performed among 3076 infants aged 0–6 months. We studied how socioeconomic status, type of settlement, allergic background of the family and skin symptoms indicative for allergy were related to primary allergy prevention in infant feeding. Prevalence odds ratios (ORs) were calculated by multiple logistic regression. Results: Independent determinants of breast feeding were age [OR corresponding to one month change 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.70–0.77], the female gender (OR 1.24; 95% CI 1.06–1.46), the socioeconomic status of the family (OR comparing the worst with the best category 0.63; 95% CI 0.43–0.93), and birth weight (OR comparing <1500 g to >2500 g category 0.17; 95% CI 0.07–0.41). Among supplementary nutrient users independent determinants of the use of hydrolysed infant formulae were the socioeconomic status (OR comparing the worst with the best category 0.06; 95% CI 0.01–0.27), the type of settlement (OR comparing village with town 0.48; 95% CI 0.28–0.80), history of allergy in the family (OR 2.30; 95% CI 1.28–4.11), and skin symptoms indicative of allergy (OR 3.46; 95% CI 1.96–6.14). Conclusion: Socioeconomic status is related to the implementation of primary allergy prevention in infant feeding.
Keywords: infant nutrition, primary prevention, socio-economic factors