Table 2.
Relationship of breastfeeding duration by covariates and 5‐year child outcomes in Mysore, South India, 1997–2003
| Variable | n | Breastfeeding duration (months)* | P † | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <6 (n = 64) | 6–11 (n = 141) | 12–17 (n = 253) | 18+ (n = 110) | |||
| Level 1: socio‐economic characteristics | ||||||
| Urban dwelling, n (%) | 568 | 55 (86.0) | 98 (69.5) | 178 (70.4) | 90 (81.8) | <0.001 ga |
| Kuppuswamy score | 568 | 33.6 (6.4) | 34.8 (5.6) | 33.9 (6.3) | 33.8 (7.3) | 0.83 |
| Maternal education (years) | 568 | 10.4 (3.5) | 10.9 (3.5) | 10.4 (3.4) | 10.3 (3.8) | 0.94 |
| Religion, n (%) | ||||||
| Hindu | 320 | 17 (26.6) | 86 (61) | 164 (64.8) | 53 (48.2) | |
| Muslim | 198 | 41 (64.1) | 46 (32.6) | 72 (28.5) | 39 (35.5) | <0.001 ga |
| Other | 50 | 6 (9.4) | 9 (6.4) | 17 (6.7) | 18 (16.4) | |
| Level 2: family & gestational history of diabetes | ||||||
| Family history of diabetes, n (%) | 555 | 16 (25.4) | 27 (19.7) | 46 (18.6) | 23 (21.5) | 0.15 |
| Gestational diabetes, n (%) | 538 | 4 (6.3) | 2 (1.4) | 15 (5.5) | 14 (12.7) | 0.01 |
| Level 3: birth outcomes | ||||||
| Birthweight (g) | 568 | 2913 (419) | 2805 (415) | 2837 (442) | 3005 (451) | 0.05 ga |
| Prematurity, n (%) | 568 | 4 (6.3) | 15 (10.6) | 23 (9.1) | 9 (8.2) | 0.95 |
| Level 4: infant‐feeding practices | ||||||
| Age of starting solids (months), n (%) | ||||||
| ≤3 | 101 | 13 (21.7) | 28 (21.0) | 43 (18.2) | 17 (16.7) | 0.16 ga |
| 4 | 202 | 32 (53.3) | 48 (35.8) | 88 (37.3) | 34 (33.3) | |
| 5 | 145 | 11 (18.3) | 37 (27.6) | 69 (29.2) | 28 (27.5) | |
| ≥6 | 84 | 4 (6.7) | 21 (15.7) | 36 (15.3) | 23 (22.6) | |
| Level 5: household nutritional status | ||||||
| Maternal BMI at 5 years (kg m–2) | 543 | 23.9 (4.9) | 23.1 (4.1) | 23.4 (4.3) | 24.5 (5.1) | 0.33 |
| Parity, n (%) | ||||||
| No children | 289 | 34 (53.1) | 80 (56.7) | 130 (51.4) | 45 (40.9) | |
| One child | 90 | 16 (25.0) | 45 (31.9) | 85 (33.6) | 44 (40.0) | 0.02 ga |
| Two or more children | 89 | 14 (21.9) | 16 (11.4) | 38 (15.0) | 21 (19.1) | |
| Main outcomes at 5 years of age | ||||||
| High BMI (>90th percentile), n (%) | 568 | 11 (17.2) | 19 (13.5) | 17 (6.7) | 11 (10.0) | 0.08 |
| Skinfolds (mm) geometric mean (+/– 1SD) | ||||||
| Subscapular | 568 | 6.3 (4.6, 8.5) | 6.0 (4.5, 8.0) | 5.9 (4.6, 7.6) | 5.9 (4.6, 7.6) | 0.07 |
| Triceps | 568 | 8.3 (6.2, 11.1) | 7.8 (6.1, 10.0) | 7.6 (6.2, 9.5) | 7.7 (6.0, 9.9) | 0.12 |
| Sum of skinfolds | 568 | 14.6 (11.0, 19.4) | 13.9 (10.8, 17.8) | 13.6 (11.0, 16.8) | 13.7 (10.8, 17.3) | 0.07 |
ga, general association; BMI, body mass index; SD, standard deviation. Data are presented as mean and SD unless otherwise stated. *The data are shown in four categories for economy of presentation, but all statistical tests used the six categories described in Methods. †Test of linear trend using breastfeeding duration in six categories, unless the test for a departure from linear trend was significant, in which case this is a likelihood ratio test or a χ 2 test of ga.