94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1500077
Early Cessation of Exclusive Breastfeeding and Associated Factors in Ethiopia
Provisionally accepted- Woldia University, Woldiya, Ethiopia
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Early cessation of exclusive breastfeeding poses significant risks to infant health by depriving them of essential immune-boosting and nutritional benefits found in breast milk. The First 1000 Days, from conception to a child's second birthday, is a critical window for growth and development. EBF during this period plays a vital role in ensuring optimal nutrition, strengthening immunity, and reducing childhood morbidity and mortality. However, early discontinuation of EBF remains a major public health concern in Ethiopia, contributing to malnutrition and increased susceptibility to infections.Aim: Despite global efforts to promote exclusive breastfeeding, early cessation remains a growing concern. This systematic review and meta-analysis assess the prevalence and associated factors of early cessation of EBF to provide evidence-based insights for improving breastfeeding practices.We conducted a comprehensive search of published papers in Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases, up to March 1, 2024, without any restrictions on publication date. Records were screened, data extracted, and the risk of bias was independently assessed by five reviewers. Study heterogeneity was evaluated using Cochrane I² statistics, while publication bias was assessed through the Egger-Begg test and funnel plots. A random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of early cessation of EBF.The analysis included 3,726 participants from 9 studies: five cross-sectional, two case-control, and two cohort studies. The overall pooled prevalence of early cessation of EBF was 43.31% (95% CI: 27.30-59.32).Several factors were significantly associated with early cessation, including urban residence (OR=2.01, 95% CI:
Keywords: breastfeeding, determinants, early cessation, Exclusive breastfeeding, Ethiopia
Received: 22 Sep 2024; Accepted: 08 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Emagneneh, Asfaw, Alamrew, Ejigu and Abebe. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tadele Emagneneh, Woldia University, Woldiya, Ethiopia
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.