Abstract
Objective
To examine the relative contributions of maternal characteristics and behaviors in
predicting infant weight gain over the first year of postpartum life.
Design
Longitudinal study of maternal feeding style throughout infancy.
Setting
A Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children center.
Participants
Ninety-six low-income, minority mother-infant dyads.
Main Outcome Measures
Infant weight gain at 3, 6, and 12 months.
Analysis
Multiple linear and backward regressions.
Results
None of the mother-infant perinatal measures predicted infant weight gain from birth
to 3 months, nor did measures from birth to 3 months predict weight gain from 3 to
6 months. However, the number of feedings and lessened maternal sensitivity to infant
cues predicted weight gain from 6 to 12 months.
Conclusions and Implications
These results suggest that feeding plays an important role in promoting rapid weight
gain in infants, since the maternal reports of feeding frequency, as well as their
lessened sensitivity to the infants' cues, indicate that the infants in this study
may have been regularly overfed. Nutrition educators who work with low-income populations
should provide guidance to mothers in feeding their infants by helping them to recognize
hunger signals and respond to satiety cues.
Key Words
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Article info
Footnotes
Continuing Education Questionnaire available at www.sne.org/ Meets Learning Need Codes for RDs and DTRs 4120, 4150, and 5070.
This research was supported by grants HD039697 and HD047338 to the first author.
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Society for Nutrition Education. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
