Spatial Analysis of Breastfeeding Practices and Childhood Morbidity Episodes in Ghana: A Cross-sectional Study of a National Dataset

In Ghana, child nutrition and health are major public health and developmental challenges. In this study, interpretivist and positivist paradigms were applied to assess breastfeeding practices and risk of childhood morbidity. The GDHS 2014 data Multivariate, geospatial, and inductive analyses were employed to manage the data. The study extracted 2202 respondents. The multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that protective effects of breastfeeding practices against childhood morbidity disappear in the midst of other risk factors. Risk factors accounting for this operated at the individual, community, health, and environmental levels. Major hot spot districts for breastfeeding practices were: Accra Metro (not breastfeeding); Daffiama-Bussie-Issa, Wa Municipality, Wa West, and Bolgatanga (exclusive); Gushiegu (predominant); and Bawku West (partial). The Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service could use channels such as radio and television to carry out more educative programmes on breastfeeding practices (noting potential risk factors) to reduce episodes of childhood morbidity in the country.