Feeding and growth of normal birth weight infants during the first year of life in Shanghai

• Published in: Early human development Vol. 88; no. 10; pp. 831 - 836
• Main Authors: Ma, Jing-Qiu, Zhou, Li-Li, Hu, Yan-Qi, Liu, Jin-Rong, Liu, Shan-Shan, Zhang, Jie, Sheng, Xiao-Yang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.10.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Advanced Basic Science; Biological and medical sciences; Birth Weight; Caregivers - psychology; Child Development; China - epidemiology; Embryology: invertebrates and vertebrates. Teratology; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Feeding practices; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Male; Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine; Nutrition Surveys; Overweight; Overweight - epidemiology; Parents - psychology; China; WAZ; Feeding practices; LAZ; WLZ; Infants; BAZ; BMI; Overweight; body mass index; BMI-for-age z scores; length-for-age z scores; weight-for-length z scores; weight-for-age z scores; Human; Feeding behavior; Growth; Infant; Birth weight; Normal; Feeding
• ISSN: 0378-3782; 1872-6232; 1872-6232
• DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2012.06.003

This study aimed to explore the relationship between infant feeding practices and growth outcomes in the first 12months of life. Investigators completed 262 questionnaires, which included infant feeding patterns, feeding environment, feeding beliefs/attitudes and caregivers' feeding behaviors through on-site face-to-face interviews with the main caregivers of infants at 12months of age. The infant's weight and length at ages 6 and 12months were measured. The study was conducted in urban Shanghai, China. This study included 262 healthy normal birth weight full-term singleton 6-month-old infants and their main caregivers. Among 262 infants, 86 (32.82%) infants were overweight [BMI-for-age z scores (BAZ)>+1] at 12months. Compared with normal weight infants, the overweight infants had higher birth weights (P=0.009). Furthermore, the overweight infants gained significantly more weight (P<0.001) in the first year of life. In normal weight infants, caregivers worried more about infants being “underweight” and “eating less” (P<0.001) whereas caregivers with overweight infants worried more about infants being “overweight” (P<0.001). Consequently, the total score of caregivers' over-feeding behaviors was significantly higher in normal weight infants (P=0.029). However, in overweight infants, the scores of “fed quickly within 10min” (r=0.223, P=0.039) and “feeding was the best way to stop the infant's fussiness” (r=0.285, P=0.008) were positively correlated with BAZ. Overweight in early life is associated with carelessness about excessive appetite and some particular infant feeding behaviors of caregivers in Shanghai.