title: Water supplementation of infants in the first month of life.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga., USA.
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Scariati
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Grummer-Strawn
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Fein
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D014867:Water