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Age at introduction of solid foods and feeding difficulties in childhood: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey

Age at introduction of solid foods and feeding difficulties in childhood: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey
Age at introduction of solid foods and feeding difficulties in childhood: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey
This study aimed to determine whether age at introduction of solid foods was associated with feeding difficulties at 3 years of age. The present study was carried out using data from the Southampton Women’s Survey (SWS). Women enrolled in the SWS who subsequently became pregnant were followed-up during pregnancy and postpartum, and the offspring have been studied through childhood. Maternal socio-demographic and anthropometric data and child anthropometric and feeding data were collected through interviews and self-administered questionnaires. When the children were 3 years of age, mothers/carers rated six potential child feeding difficulty questions on a four-point Likert scale, including one general question and five specific feeding difficulty questions. Age at introduction of solids as a predictor of feeding difficulties was examined in 2389 mother–child pairs, adjusting for child (age last breast fed, sex, gestation) and maternal characteristics (parity, pre-pregnancy BMI, age, education, employment, parenting difficulties, diet quality). The majority of mothers/carers (61 %) reported some feeding difficulties (general feeding difficulty question) at 3 years of age, specifically with their child eating enough food (61 %), eating the right food (66 %) and being choosy with food (74 %). Children who were introduced to solids ?6 months had a lower risk of feeding difficulties (RR 0·73; 95 % CI 0·59, 0·91, P=0·004) than children who were introduced to solids between 4 and 6 months. No other significant associations were found. There were few associations between feeding difficulties in relation to age at introduction of solid foods. However, general feeding difficulties were less common among infants introduced to solid foods ?6 months of age.
0007-1145
743-750
Hollis, J.L.
fcc513c7-44f4-48c2-9df3-a4d90e91dca8
Crozier, Sarah
9c3595ce-45b0-44fa-8c4c-4c555e628a03
Inskip, Hazel
5fb4470a-9379-49b2-a533-9da8e61058b7
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Godfrey, Keith
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Robinson, Sian
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b
Hollis, J.L.
fcc513c7-44f4-48c2-9df3-a4d90e91dca8
Crozier, Sarah
9c3595ce-45b0-44fa-8c4c-4c555e628a03
Inskip, Hazel
5fb4470a-9379-49b2-a533-9da8e61058b7
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Godfrey, Keith
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Robinson, Sian
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b

Hollis, J.L., Crozier, Sarah, Inskip, Hazel, Cooper, Cyrus, Godfrey, Keith and Robinson, Sian (2016) Age at introduction of solid foods and feeding difficulties in childhood: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey. British Journal of Nutrition, 116 (4), 743-750. (doi:10.1017/S0007114516002531). (PMID:27356464)

Record type: Article

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether age at introduction of solid foods was associated with feeding difficulties at 3 years of age. The present study was carried out using data from the Southampton Women’s Survey (SWS). Women enrolled in the SWS who subsequently became pregnant were followed-up during pregnancy and postpartum, and the offspring have been studied through childhood. Maternal socio-demographic and anthropometric data and child anthropometric and feeding data were collected through interviews and self-administered questionnaires. When the children were 3 years of age, mothers/carers rated six potential child feeding difficulty questions on a four-point Likert scale, including one general question and five specific feeding difficulty questions. Age at introduction of solids as a predictor of feeding difficulties was examined in 2389 mother–child pairs, adjusting for child (age last breast fed, sex, gestation) and maternal characteristics (parity, pre-pregnancy BMI, age, education, employment, parenting difficulties, diet quality). The majority of mothers/carers (61 %) reported some feeding difficulties (general feeding difficulty question) at 3 years of age, specifically with their child eating enough food (61 %), eating the right food (66 %) and being choosy with food (74 %). Children who were introduced to solids ?6 months had a lower risk of feeding difficulties (RR 0·73; 95 % CI 0·59, 0·91, P=0·004) than children who were introduced to solids between 4 and 6 months. No other significant associations were found. There were few associations between feeding difficulties in relation to age at introduction of solid foods. However, general feeding difficulties were less common among infants introduced to solid foods ?6 months of age.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 31 May 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 30 June 2016
Published date: August 2016
Organisations: Faculty of Medicine

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 396243
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/396243
ISSN: 0007-1145
PURE UUID: f7941a60-993b-48e3-ab72-267f00af7c6c
ORCID for Sarah Crozier: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9524-1127
ORCID for Hazel Inskip: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8897-1749
ORCID for Cyrus Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709
ORCID for Keith Godfrey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-0618
ORCID for Sian Robinson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1766-7269

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Date deposited: 06 Jun 2016 12:39
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 05:11

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Contributors

Author: J.L. Hollis
Author: Sarah Crozier ORCID iD
Author: Hazel Inskip ORCID iD
Author: Cyrus Cooper ORCID iD
Author: Keith Godfrey ORCID iD
Author: Sian Robinson ORCID iD

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