Adherence with early infant feeding and complementary feeding guidelines in the Cork BASELINE Birth Cohort Study. Issue 15 (18th February 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: O'Donovan, Sinéad M; Murray, Deirdre M; Hourihane, Jonathan O'B; Kenny, Louise C; Irvine, Alan D; Kiely, Mairead
• Is Part Of: Public health nutrition. Volume 18:Issue 15(2015)
• Page Start: 2864
• Page End: 2873
• Publication Date: 2015-02-18
• Subjects: Breast-feeding, -- Infant formula, -- Complementary feeding, -- Prospective birth cohort; Nutrition -- Periodicals; Nutrition policy -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; 613.2
• DOI: 10.1017/S136898001500018X
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1368-9800

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: To describe adherence with infant feeding and complementary feeding guidelines. Design: Prospective study of infant feeding and complementary feeding practices were collected as part of the Cork BASELINE Birth Cohort Study. Setting: Cork, Ireland. Subjects: Data are described for the 823 infants for whom a diary was completed. Results: Breast-feeding was initiated in 81 % of infants, and 34 %, 14 % and 1 % of infants were exclusively breast-fed at hospital discharge, 2 and 6 months, respectively. Stage one infant formula decreased from 71 % at 2 months to 13 % at 12 months. The majority of infants (79 %) were introduced to solids between 17 and 26 weeks and 18 % were given solid foods before 17 weeks. Mothers of infants who commenced complementary feeding prior to 17 weeks were younger (29·8 v. 31·5 years; P <0·001) and more likely to smoke (18 v . 8 %; P =0·004). The first food was usually baby rice (69 %), infant breakfast cereals (14 %) or fruit/vegetables (14 %). Meals were generally home-made (49 %), cereal-based (35 %), manufactured (10 %), dairy (3 %) and dessert-based (3 %). The median gap between the first–second, second–third, third–fourth and fourth–fifth new foods was 4, 2, 2 and 2 d, respectively. Conclusions: We present the largest prospective cohort study to date on early infant feeding in Ireland. The rate of breast-feeding is low by international norms. Most mothers introduce complementary foods between 4 and 6 months with lengthy gaps between each new food/food product. There is a high prevalence of exposure to infant breakfast cereals, which are composite foods, among the first foods introduced.