PEDIATRICS Vol. 72 No. 3 September 1983, pp. 300-306
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Holmes, G. E.
Right arrow Articles by Miller, H. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Holmes, G. E.
Right arrow Articles by Miller, H. C.

Factors Associated with Infections Among Breast-Fed Babies and Babies Fed Proprietary Milks

Grace E. Holmes MD1, Khatab M. Hassanein PhD1, and Herbert C. Miller MD1

1 From the Departments of Pediatrics, Community Health, and Biometry, University of Kansas Medical Center, College of Health Sciences and Hospital, Kansas City

Correlation of first postnatal year infections among 251 babies was made with the infant feeding mode, socioeconomic status of family, maternal educational level, age, and maternal behavioral factors including smoking habit and number of siblings in the family. Initially, 127 mothers intended to breast-feed and 124 intended to formula-feed their infants. In the correlation matrix maternal education was the highest variable inversely correlated with infection; it was the first to enter in stepwise regression analysis and was highly significant (P <.0001). Maternal weight gain during pregnancy and infant feeding mode were the next two variables, respectively, to be added during the stepwise regression but they were not significant in the presence of maternal education. The statistical significance of increased maternal education in inverse relation to infection persisted in the presence of the other two factors (P <.0064). The t test showed no significant difference in the number of infections among the breast-fed and formula-fed babies within any of the three maternal education groups. It may be concluded that in the population studied, the infant feeding mode itself was not significantly related to the number of infections during the infant's first postnatal year when the education of the mother was taken into account.

Key Words: breast-feeding • milk formula • morbidity • infection • maternal education

Submitted on August 9, 1982
Accepted on December 29, 1982




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Hum LactHome page
K. G. Auerbach, M. J. Renfrew, and M. Minchin
Infant Feeding Comparisons: A Hazard to Infant Health?
J Hum Lact, June 1, 1991; 7(2): 63 - 71.
[Abstract] [PDF]