Infant-feeding practices among middle-class Anglos and Hispanics.
Feeding practices have been analyzed prospectively in a sample of 1,112 healthy infants selected from families using an HMO. Data were collected at well-child visits during the first year of life regarding breast-feeding, formula feeding, and use of solid foods and cow's milk. Seventy percent of all infants were breast-fed, with the mean duration of breast-feeding being almost 7 months. Factors positively associated with breast-feeding included education and marriage, whereas maternal employment outside the home and ethnicity (being Hispanic rather than Anglo-American) were related to bottle feeding. Solid foods were introduced earlier by Hispanics and, also, among less well educated and single women; maternal employment was unrelated to the introduction of solid foods. Multiple regression analysis indicated different patterns for the two ethnic groups: education and employment were related to almost all feeding practices for Anglo-Americans, whereas education and employment predicted few feeding practices for the Hispanics. These findings suggest that the effects of ethnicity are independent of those of education.
Wright
A L
AL
Department of Pediatrics, University of Arizona, Tucson.
Holberg
C
C
Taussig
L M
LM
D000328:Adult; D001130:Arizona; D001942:Breast Feeding; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care; D007225:Infant Food; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008393:Marriage; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D011446:Prospective Studies; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*