title: Maternal diet and breastfeeding duration of infants after NICU hospitalization in Greece: a cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the role of maternal diet, personal characteristics and willingness to breastfeed on breastfeeding duration of hospitalized neonates as well as to evaluate the mothers' dietetic intake based on the national recommendations.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 161 pregnant women from Athens, Greece was followed up during pregnancy, labor and the first 40 weeks of lactation. The participants attended breastfeeding classes and were interviewed regarding their nutritional habits, personal characteristics and breastfeeding intention. A multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for maternal age, smoking, weeks of gestation, body mass index, mode of delivery was conducted in order to estimate the adjusted odds ratios of breastfeeding for at least 6 months for consuming additional serves of fruit or vegetables from the recommended by the national guidelines.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The adjusted odds ratios for breastfeeding at 6 months was 2.15 (p = 0.05) for women consumed  ≥3.5 servings of fruits/day. Moreover, the participants reported low conformity with the national dietetic guidelines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mothers who consumed the recommended by the NDG fruit servings/day breast-fed their hospitalized newborns for a longer period. Despite the fact that our participants were highly motivated and willing to breast-feed, we argue that this relationship is highly unlikely to be biological.
authors.affiliation: a Midwife, Registered Nurse, Departments of Quality Control, Research and Continuing Education, Elena Venizelou Maternity Hospital , Athens , Greece.
authors.forename: Kalliopi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dritsakou
authors.affiliation: b Department of Nutrition and Dietetics , Harokopeion University of Athens , Greece.
authors.forename: Paraskevi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Massara
authors.affiliation: b Department of Nutrition and Dietetics , Harokopeion University of Athens , Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Skourlis
authors.affiliation: c Neonatologist, Human Milk Bank, NICU, Elena Venizelou Maternity Hospital , Athens , Greece , and.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liosis
authors.affiliation: d Assistant Professor of Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition, Department of Science of Dietetics-Nutrition, Harokopeion University of Athens , Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skouroliakou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Maternal; NICU; breastfeeding; diet; duration