Water supplementation of infants in the first month of life.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the prevalence of and risk factors associated with regular water supplementation of neonates.


METHODS
Evaluation of data from the Food and Drug Administration's Infant Feeding Practices Study, a panel study of US women of fairly high socioeconomic status who were followed up from late pregnancy through their infants' first year of life. The sample was drawn from a nationally distributed consumer mail panel. Each mother was asked whether she gave her neonate water at least 3 times per week.


METHODS
A total of 1677 mothers of infants who were neonates in April through November 1993.


METHODS
Percentages of mothers who gave their neonates water at least 3 times a week, considering infant feeding status, mother's education, and family income.


RESULTS
About one fourth (24.7%) of the mothers reported giving their neonates water at least 3 times per week. Stratification by feeding practices and socioeconomic factors revealed that 41.6% of mothers who formula-fed their neonates, 47.4% of mothers with less than a high school education, and 35.4% of mothers with an annual family income less than $22,500 gave their neonates water at least 3 times per week.


CONCLUSIONS
Water supplementation of neonates was a prevalent practice in this cohort of women. Feeding practices, maternal education, and family income were all significant risk factors associated with this behavior.
Scariati
P D
PD
Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga., USA.
Grummer-Strawn
L M
LM
Fein
S B
SB
D001903:Bottle Feeding; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007225:Infant Food; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration; D014867:Water / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects
D014867:Water