Indonesian Mothers' Practice of Giving Sugar and Honey to Newborns: Understanding the Causes
The practice of giving sugar or honey to newborns—known as prelacteal feeding—remains widespread in Indonesia, contributing significantly to low rates of exclusive breastfeeding. Research indicates that maternal education and employment status substantially influence exclusive breastfeeding practices.
Yuli Astuti from the Population Research Centre of the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) conducted research examining various factors affecting exclusive breastfeeding using a mixed-methods approach involving 706 mothers with children aged 6–59 months.
Education, employment, and prelacteal feeding emerged as key determinants. The research found that mothers with junior secondary education or lower were 8.84 times more likely not to provide exclusive breastfeeding compared to mothers with tertiary education. Similarly, children of working mothers faced 6.45 times higher risk of not receiving exclusive breastfeeding compared to non-working mothers.
The analysis revealed that 58.1% of children in the sample did not receive exclusive breastfeeding during their first six months, reflecting persistent structural and social barriers to breastfeeding practice.
A particularly significant finding was that prelacteal feeding—giving honey or sugar to newborns—increased the risk of non-exclusive breastfeeding by 5.67 times. Approximately 36.1% of respondents reported engaging in this practice, typically based on cultural beliefs that sweetness brings good fortune for children’s future lives. Such prelacteal practices proved not merely habitual but demonstrably consequential for exclusive breastfeeding failure.
Beyond education and employment, the study identified important social, economic, and gender dimensions. Male children faced higher risk of not receiving exclusive breastfeeding compared to female children. Children from low-income households were more likely to experience non-exclusive breastfeeding practices.
These findings indicate that social, economic, and gender constructions influence child-rearing patterns. The perception that larger babies are healthier, coupled with the view of male children as family heirs requiring additional nutrition beyond breastfeeding alone, prompted mothers to introduce formula or supplementary foods prematurely.
Breastfeeding decisions often occur within family negotiation spaces rather than as individual maternal choices. The research emphasised that exclusive breastfeeding challenges cannot be understood solely as individual maternal problems.
Yuli stressed that policy and health promotion must be evidence-based and sensitive to local contexts. Interventions should target mothers, families, and communities whilst strengthening structural support—such as workplace policies supporting nursing mothers. Without such structural support, sustainable behavioural change remains difficult to achieve.