title: Infant and child feeding practices: a preliminary investigation.
abstract: The objective of this preliminary investigation was to examine the feeding practices of infants and pre-school children in Adelaide, and thereby contribute to the development of appropriate preventive dental strategies. A stratified random sample of 160 two year old and three year old pre-school children in the Adelaide Statistical District was obtained. Information about feeding practices and use of comforters or 'dummies' was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire completed by parents of the selected children. Information was collected for the age periods of 0-3 months, 4-6 months, 7-12 months, 13-24 months and 25-36 months. Most of the children (81.8 per cent) were breast-fed at some stage. However the percentage of children being breast-fed decreased markedly across age periods, particularly to 13-24 months, when only 15.9 per cent of children were being breast-fed. Over half of the children, had been bottle-fed with infant formula at some stage. The highest percentage of children being bottle-fed with infant formula occurred in the 4-6 months (42.6 per cent) closely followed by the 7-12 months age period (37.4 per cent). Nearly two-thirds of children were bottle-fed with cow's milk at some stage. The highest percentage of children being bottle-fed with cow's milk occurred in the 13-24 months age period (49.6 per cent). A quarter (24.5 per cent) of the children were put to bed at some stage with a bottle containing cariogenic fluids. The majority of children used a 'dummy' at some stage during both day-time and night-time. Parents are in need of advice on appropriate feeding patterns for infants and young children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, King Saud University College of Dentistry, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Wyne
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Szuster
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004037:Diet, Cariogenic; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods; D007225:Infant Food / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012494:Sampling Studies