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Cereal‐in‐the‐Bottle Associated with Increased Time Between Feeds Among a Sample of Low‐Income Women
Author(s) -
Bower KM,
Nicklas JC,
Burney JL,
Greer B P,
Lou Z,
Kavanagh KF
Publication year - 2015
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.29.1_supplement.404.1
Subject(s) - bottle , medicine , breakfast cereal , infant feeding , zoology , infant formula , food science , pediatrics , breast feeding , biology , geography , archaeology
The purpose was to describe the prevalence of and reasons for addition of infant cereal to formula bottles. Low‐income mothers (n=54) of normal birth weight, healthy, term infants ~2.1 months old, recorded formula intake for 48‐hrs, including ounces offered and remaining, and infant cereal if used. Mothers reported reasons for cereal use, when relevant. Nearly half of mothers (46%) reported having ever added cereal to the bottle, with two of the most common reasons being to reduce hunger (44%) and extend sleep (32%) (not mutually exclusive). Thirty‐five percent of mothers reported adding cereal to the bottle at least once during the 48‐hour recording period ('cereal‐users'), with 42% of these adding cereal to all bottles. Mothers offered an average of 33.2 + 8.1 oz and infants consumed an average of 28.3 + 7.3 oz. Average bottle size was 4.7 + 1.3 oz. Though bottle size did not differ by cereal‐use (p=0.68), cereal‐users offered significantly fewer bottles than non‐users (7.0 (4.0‐10.5) vs. 7.5 (4.5‐10.5) bottles, respectively; p=0.042). Despite this there was no difference between average daily amount of formula offered (p=0.68) or consumed (p=0.67). However, cereal‐users reported a significantly longer time between feeds compared to non‐users (3.3 + 0.9 vs. 2.8 + 0.6 hrs; p=0.02), which may indicate longer sleeping bouts or hunger reduction. Though cereal use appeared to extend time between bottles, it did not appear to result in a difference in formula consumption. Cereal's effect on the nutrient composition of bottle contents may be an important factor to consider, as transit time may differ between groups. Funding: USDA/NIFA/AFRI Award ‐2010‐85215‐20663.