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Relationship of bottle‐feeding behaviors to intake and weight‐for‐length of formula‐fed infants
Author(s) -
Kavanagh K F,
Cohen R J,
Heinig M J,
NommsenRivers L A,
Lonnerdal B L,
Dewey K G
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a319-a
Subject(s) - bottle , infant formula , medicine , zoology , infant feeding , food science , pediatrics , breast feeding , biology , mechanical engineering , engineering
Formula‐fed infants consume more milk and gain weight faster than exclusively breastfed infants. These differences may be at least partially explained by bottle‐feeding behaviors. To evaluate the potential role of behaviors such as “bottle‐emptying” and size of bottle offered, we analyzed data at ~1, 3 and 4–5 mo of age from 109 exclusively formula‐fed infants in two separate studies. The amount of formula offered and consumed was recorded for 2–4 d at each time point. From each record, the percentage of bottles emptied (< ½ oz remaining) and percentage of bottles > 6 oz were calculated. The relationships of these behaviors to formula intake and weight‐for‐length (WLZ) were examined using stepwise regression, controlling for infant sex and age at the time of assessment. Neither behavior was related to intake or WLZ at 1 mo, but both of them were positively associated with intake (mL/d) thereafter (bottle‐emptying: β=3.5, p=0.01 at 3 mo; β=4.5, p=0.003 at 4–5 mo) (large bottles: β=4.3, p=<0.0001 at 3 mo; β=3.1, p=0.008 at 4–5 mo). Bottle size, but not bottle‐emptying, was associated with WLZ at 4–5 mo (β =0.0007, p=0.034). Though causality cannot be determined from this cross‐sectional analysis, the results suggest that bottle‐feeding behaviors may contribute to overfeeding of formula‐fed infants. (Source of support: ERS Small Grants Program and FSNEP of CA).