Table 2.

Feeding practices at 6 months of age, and comparison according to stunting, among infants aged 6 months from a peri-urban South African community, September 2013–January 2015

	Total (n 750)		Not stunted (n 536)		Stunted (n 214)
Characteristic	n	%	n	%	n	%	P †
Age, cessation of exclusive breast-feeding
0–2 months	367	48·9	268	50·0	99	46·3	0·361
3–4 months	271	36·1	194	36·2	77	36·0
5–6 months	112	14·9	74	13·8	38	17·8
Age, milk feeds introduced
0–2 months	159	21·4	118	22·3	41	19·2	0·186
3–4 months	113	15·2	88	16·7	25	11·7
5–6 months	67	9·0	46	8·7	21	9·8
Not started	403	54·3	276	52·3	127	59·3
Age, other liquids introduced
0–2 months	342	45·6	248	46·3	94	43·9	0·644
3–4 months	253	33·7	183	34·1	70	32·7
5–6 months	116	15·5	80	14·9	36	16·8
Not started	39	5·2	25	4·7	14	6·5
Age, semi-solid/solid foods introduced
0–2 months	123	16·6	93	17·5	30	14·2
3–4 months	326	43·9	227	42·7	99	46·9	0·464
5–6 months	249	33·6	182	34·3	67	31·8
Not started	44	5·9	29	5·5	15	7·1
Foods infants consumed (at least once in the previous week)
Formula milk	352	47·5	262	49·5	90	42·5	0·081
Dairy foods‡	412	55·6	299	56·5	113	53·3	0·425
Jarred commercial infant foods	410	55·3	307	58·0	103	48·6	0·019*
Infant cereals	596	80·4	419	79·2	177	83·5	0·184
Maize meal porridge§	289	39·0	205	38·8	84	39·6	0·826
Fruits and vegetables║	462	62·3	338	63·9	124	58·5	0·170
Animal-source foods¶	223	30·1	163	30·8	60	28·3	0·501
Sweetened cold drinks††	173	23·3	122	23·1	51	24·1	0·772
Fats‡‡	398	53·7	281	53·1	117	55·2	0·610

*Significant at P<0·05.

^† P value from Pearson’s χ ² test.

^‡Dairy foods: cow’s milk and yoghurt.

^§Maize meal porridge: home-prepared maize porridge and instant maize porridge.

^║Fruits and vegetables: fresh fruits and vegetables and fruit juice.

^¶Animal-source foods: red meats, chicken, liver and fish.

^††Sweetened cold drinks: fizzy drinks and dilutable drinks.

^‡‡Fats: cooking oil and margarine used in preparing infant foods.