Differences in Infant Feeding Practices in Relationship to Ethnicity and Income Level

TL;DRAbstract

Breastfeeding is linked to numerous health benefits, for both infants and mothers, and is the ideal nutrition for infants until 6 months of age. Failing to follow specific guidelines, such as exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months or waiting until 4-6 months to introduce solids foods, maybe linked to poor health outcomes and higher infant mortality rates. The CDC reports 14.1% of mothers exclusively breastfed their children for six months and 43.5% breastfeed until six months of age. The Non-Hispanic black and lower income populations have the lowest breastfeeding rates and experience higher infant mortality rates. The objective of this study was to gain insight into the common feeding practices of different populations to support targeted interventions to promote adherence to infant feeding guidelines. Data from the 1999-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was analyzed using a sample population of 9807 children ages 0 – 6 years. Breast and formula feeding practices w

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