title: Complementary feeding and the early origins of obesity risk: a study protocol.
abstract: The rise in the prevalence of childhood obesity worldwide calls for an intervention earlier in the life cycle. Studies show that nutrition during early infancy may contribute to later obesity. Hence, this study is designed to determine if the variation in complementary feeding practices poses a risk for the development of obesity later in life. A mixed methods approach will be used in conducting this study.
  
  
  
  The target participants are infants born from January to June 2015 in the South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO) platform. The SEACO is a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) that is established in the District of Segamat in the state of Johor, Malaysia. For the quantitative strand, the sociodemographic data, feeding practices, anthropometry measurement and total nutrient intake will be assessed. The assessment will occur around the time complementary feeding is expected to start (7 Months) and again at 12 months. A 24-hour diet recall and a 2-day food diary will be used to assess the food intake. For the qualitative strand, selected mothers will be interviewed to explore their infant feeding practices and factors that influence their practices and food choices in detail.
  
  
  
  Ethical clearance for this study was sought through the Monash University Human Research and Ethics Committee (application number CF14/3850-2014002010). Subsequently, the findings of this study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, national and international conferences.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Sunway Campus, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia.|Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Mara University of Technology, Shah Alam, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Naleena Devi
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Muniandy
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Sunway Campus, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Pascale A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Allotey
authors.affiliation: Usher Institute for Population Health Sciences & Informatics, Centre for Medical Informatics, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Ireneous N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Soyiri
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Sunway Campus, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Daniel D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Reidpath
mesh_terms: D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012107:Research Design; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Early origins; Obesity; Study Protocol; complementary feeding; infant nutrition