Research Article Prevalence and Determinants of Exclusive Breastfeeding Practice among Mothers of Children Aged 6–24 Months in Hail, Saudi Arabia Mashail Basheir Alshammari 1 and Hassan Kasim Haridi 2,3 1 Family & Community Medicine Joint Program, Hail, Saudi Arabia 2 eDesignatedInstitutionalOfficial(DIO)forAcademicAffairs&PostgraduateStudies,HealthAffairs,Najran,SaudiArabia 3 Research Department, Health Affairs, Hail Region, Saudi Arabia CorrespondenceshouldbeaddressedtoHassanKasimHaridi;hassankasim@hotmail.com Received 10 August 2020; Revised 14 March 2021; Accepted 17 March 2021; Published 28 March 2021 AcademicEditor:AbdelHalimSalem Copyright©2021MashailBasheirAlshammariandHassanKasimHaridi.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedunderthe CreativeCommonsAttributionLicense,whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,provided theoriginalworkisproperlycited. Background.eWHOrecommendsthatinfantsshouldbeexclusivelybreastfedforthefirstsixmonthsoflifetoachieveoptimal growth,development,andhealth.Nonadherencetoexclusivebreastfeeding(EBF)dependslargelyontheindividual,sociocultural context,andinstitutionalfactors.eaimofthisstudyistoestimatecoverageandfactorsassociatedwithadherencetoEBFamong mothersintheurbanHailregion,SaudiArabia. Methods.Across-sectionalstudywascarriedoutduringFebruary–June2019 among450mothersofchildrenaged6–24monthsattendingimmunizationandwell-babyclinicsin6primaryhealthcarecenters in Hail city. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to interview the consented participants. Results. e majority of mothers(72.9%)wereawareofEBF;24%reportedinitiationofbreastfeedingwithinonehourafterdelivery;however,71.1%did duringthefirst24hours.emajority(76.8%)fedcolostrumtotheirnewborn;nevertheless,50.1%hadgivenaprelactealfeeding. MotherswhoreportedEBFpracticewere50.7%(CI45.9–55.4).eadjustedlogisticregressionanalysisrevealedthatmother’s awareness about EBF (aOR 3.03; 95% CI 1.78–5.18), antenatal care received at the governmental facility (aOR 2.63; 95% CI 1.28–5.41),breastfeedingapreviouschild(aOR2.42;95%CI1.46–4.03),counselingreceivedafterdelivery(aOR2.47;95%CI 1.34–4.53),andcolostrumfeedinggiven(aOR4.24;95%CI2.31–7.77)werepositivelyassociatedwithEBFpractice.Ontheother hand, mother’s education (OR 0.39; 95% CI 0.15–0.99), higher family income (aOR 0.04; 95% CI 0.00–0.31), and practice prelactealfeeding(aOR0.61;95%CI0.38–0.97)werenegativelyassociatedwithEBFpractice. Conclusion.EBFrateinurbanHail is still far below WHO recommendations. Efforts to strengthen mothers’ counseling/support during antenatal care and im- mediately after delivery are needed to promote EBF practice, especially in the private sector. 1. Introduction Breastfeedingisaninvestmentinhealth,notjustalifestyle decision. It provides unmatched health benefits for babies andmothers.Infantswhoarebreastfedhavereducedrisksof asthma, obesity, Type 1 diabetes, severe lower respiratory disease, acute otitis media, sudden infant death syndrome, gastrointestinalinfections,andnecrotizingenterocolitisfor preterm infants [1, 2]. Studies have shown also an inverse relationship between exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and infant mortality rates in developing countries [3], so that WHO described EBF as the single most effective interven- tion to improve the survival of children [4]. Women who breastfeedalsohaveareducedriskofhighbloodpressure, Type2diabetes,ovariancancer,andbreastcancer[1,2]. e WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)recommendthatchildrenbeexclusivelybreastfed for the first 6 months of life—meaning no other foods or liquidsareprovided,includingwater[1].However,theglobal picture falls short of these standards, as only about 40% of infantsaged0–6monthsoldareexclusivelybreastfed[5].is is far below the widely accepted “universal coverage” target Hindawi Scientifica Volume 2021, Article ID 2761213, 10 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/2761213