Why are babies weaned early? Data from a prospective population based cohort study

Wright, Charlotte

doi:10.1136/adc.2003.038448

Cited by 136 publications

(166 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…Socio-economic status was associated with breast-feeding continuation among white, but not non-white, women. Although socio-economic status has previously been reported to be associated with early introduction of solids 7,23 , we found this to be the case only for non-white women. Similarly, we have found ethnic differences in associations with maternal education: among non-white mothers, those with educational qualifications were less likely to stop breast-feeding early than those with no or minimal qualifications, but more likely to introduce solids before 4 months.…”

Section: Comparison Of Findings With Other Studiescontrasting

confidence: 85%

Do early infant feeding practices vary by maternal ethnic group?

Griffiths

Tate

Dezateux³

2007

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To examine UK country and ethnic variations in infant feeding practices. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Infants enrolled in the Millennium Cohort Study, born between September 2000 and January 2002. Subjects: A total of 18 150 natural mothers (11 286 (8207 white) living in England) of singleton infants. Outcome measures: Breast-feeding initiation, breast-feeding discontinuation and introduction of solid foods before 4 months. Explanatory variables: Maternal ethnic group, education and social class. Results: Seventy per cent of UK mothers started to breast-feed, of whom 62% stopped before 4 months. Median age at discontinuing breast-feeding was 14, 13, 10 and 6 weeks in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively. Thirty-six per cent of UK mothers (34% in England) introduced solids before 4 months. White mothers were more likely to discontinue breast-feeding (62%) and introduce solids early (37%) than most other ethnic minority groups; those stopping before 4 months were more likely to introduce solids early compared with those continuing to breastfeed beyond this age (adjusted rate ratio (95% confidence interval): 1.3 (1.1 -1.2)). Educated mothers were less likely to stop breast-feeding before 4 months (white mothers, 0.8 (0.8-0.9); non-white mothers, 0.9 (0.8 -1.0)) than those with no/minimal qualifications but, among ethnic minorities, were more likely to introduce solids early (1.3 (1.0 -1.6)). Socio-economic status was positively associated with breast-feeding continuation among white women, and with age at introduction of solids among nonwhite women. Conclusions: We have identified important geographic, ethnic and social inequalities in breast-feeding continuation and introduction of solids within the UK, many of which have not been reported previously. The factors mediating these associations are complex and merit further study to ensure that interventions proposed to promote maternal adherence to current infant feeding recommendations are appropriate and effective.

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Section: Comparison Of Findings With Other Studiescontrasting

confidence: 85%

Do early infant feeding practices vary by maternal ethnic group?

Griffiths

Tate

Dezateux³

2007

Public Health Nutr.

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“…It is also of interest that maternal additions of solid foods to infant bottle feeds at 6 weeks (5.4%) and 6 months (7.7%) was a practice particularly reported by those who formula fed from birth. Such a non-recommended practice in the early weeks postpartum is not only associated with a desire to 'promote infant sleep', and 'decrease infant hunger' (Wright et al, 2004;Tarrant et al, 2010b) including 'increased infant hunger/feeding frequency' (54.8%) as well as 'the infant was not sleeping through the night' (4.6%). It could be argued that mother-led reasons may underlie their intentional efforts to increase infant satiety at the early stage of 6 weeks, and achieve regular 4 hourly feeding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mothers who Formula Feed: Their Practices, Support Needs and Factors Influencing their Infant Feeding Decision

Tarrant¹,

Sheridan-Pereira

McCarthy

et al. 2012

Child Care in Practice

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Tarrant Mothers who formula feed: their practices, support needs and factors influencing their infant feeding decision. Child Care in Practice 19(1), 78-94.Page 1 Manuscript title: 'Mothers who formula feed: their practices, support needs and factors influencing their infant feeding decision'Authors:(1) Roslyn C. Tarrant AbstractThe majority of mothers in Ireland provide formula milk to their infants during the initial weeks postpartum; however, data are lacking on their formula feeding practices and support needs.This prospective Dublin-based observational study, which included 450 eligible mother-term infant pairs recruited and followed up to 6 months postpartum, aimed to advance our understanding of maternal formula feeding practices, their reasons for deciding to formula feed, sources of feeding information and perceived support needs; insights into infant formula milk consumption patterns in relation to current feeding guidelines are also provided. In summary, the vast majority of infants at 6 weeks were provided with formula milk (n = 368; 81.8%). Positive maternal perceptions of formula feeding were among the most frequently reported reasons underlying mothers' decision to formula feed (e.g. convenience, 17.3%).Potential public health concerns over the large formula milk volumes consumed by infants (mean 205ml/kilogram/day) relative to infant feeding guidelines (150ml/kilogram/day) were raised from this study. Some mothers continue to add solid foods to infant bottle feeds at 6 weeks (3.8%) and 6 months (6%), a non-recommended feeding practice posing a choking risk for infants. Crucially, this study highlights the need to provide greater support and information to mothers who decide to formula feed postpartum including practical information on sterilisation and formula reconstitution. While breastfeeding promotion and research continues to be a public health priority in Ireland, addressing the support and information needs of mothers who formula feed, an underrepresented and understudied population in the literature, also needs to be considered to ensure optimal health and safety for their infants.Mothers who formula feed 2013 Mothers who formula feed: their practices, support needs and factors influencing their infant feeding decision.

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“…An inverse dose-dependent association has been shown, suggesting that longer duration of breastfeeding is associated with a lower body mass index (Arenz et al, 2004;Harder et al, 2005). Some studies have also suggested that early weaning may increase body mass index in childhood, but results are inconsistent (Forsyth et al, 1993;Wilson et al, 1998;Morgan et al, 2004;Wright et al, 2004). Body mass index provides only information about body weight, whereas it does not distinguish between fat and lean mass (Nevill et al, 2006;Wells and Fewtrell, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant diet and subcutaneous fat mass in early childhood: The Generation R Study

Durmuş

Duijts

et al. 2011

Eur J Clin Nutr

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Background/Objectives: Breastfeeding has a protective effect on childhood obesity, but the influences on body composition in early childhood are not known. The objective of this study is to assess whether the duration and exclusiveness of breastfeeding, and the timing of introduction of solid foods are associated with the subcutaneous fat mass in early childhood. Subjects/Methods: This study was embedded in a population-based prospective cohort study among 779 children. Peripheral (biceps, triceps) and central (suprailiacal and subscapular) subcutaneous fat mass was measured as skinfold thickness at the ages of 1.5, 6 and 24 months. Results: Breastfeeding duration was not associated with subcutaneous fat mass at the age of 1.5 months. Shorter breastfeeding was associated with higher peripheral and total subcutaneous fat mass at the age of 6 months (P-value for trend o0.05), but not at the age of 24 months. As compared to children who were exclusively breast fed for 4 months, those who were non-exclusively breast fed had a higher central fat mass at the age of 24 months (P-value for trend o0.01). Timing of introduction of solid foods was not associated with subcutaneous fat mass. Conclusion: Our results suggest that a shorter duration and non-exclusive breastfeeding affect early body composition during the first 2 years of life. Follow-up studies at older ages are needed to explore the long-term consequences.

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Why are babies weaned early? Data from a prospective population based cohort study

Cited by 136 publications

References 20 publications

Do early infant feeding practices vary by maternal ethnic group?

Do early infant feeding practices vary by maternal ethnic group?

Mothers who Formula Feed: Their Practices, Support Needs and Factors Influencing their Infant Feeding Decision

Infant diet and subcutaneous fat mass in early childhood: The Generation R Study

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