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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Laura Duckett, PhD, MPH, RN, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 6101 Weaver-Densford Hall, 308 Harvard Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, 612-624-9160, ducke001@umn.edu
Recently initiatives in the global community have focused on assessing the variability in exclusive breastfeeding recommendations around the world and evaluating the evidence base upon which a global recommendation could be based. In May 2001 the WHO World Health Assembly passed a new resolution urging exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.
The major aim of this investigation is to compare weight-for-length z-scores in the second half of the first year, based on the CDC 2000 growth reference data, for 3 groups of infants who were "almost exclusively" breastfed for greater than 6 months, 4 to 6 months, and less than 4 months.
Data were collected during the postpartum hospitalization from 635 Midwestern U.S. mothers who gave birth in 1990 and from their hospital records. At 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, mothers provided detailed information about the infant's liquid and solid feedings, and about the infant's length and weight assessments made at well-child visits.
Weight-for-length z-scores for male and female infants have been calculated, relative to the CDC 2000 growth reference data, for each assessment interval. Data are available on proportion of human milk to other milk in the infant's diet at each follow-up interval, as well as weeks of age at the first introduction of solid food. Analysis of covariance will be used to compare mean weight-for-length z-scores and variability for the three breastfeeding groups controlling for selected maternal variables, e.g., years of education, maternal age, and employment group. Final results will be reported.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Breastfeeding, Infant Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.