Table 3.
Relationship of age of starting regular solid feeding by covariates and 5‐year child outcomes in Mysore, South India, 1997–2003
| Variable | n | Age started regular solids (months) | P * | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤3 (n = 100) | 4 (n = 201) | 5 (n = 145) | ≥6 (n = 83) | |||
| Level 1: socio‐economic characteristics | ||||||
| Urban dwelling, n (%) | 532 | 75 (74.3) | 166 (82.2) | 107 (73.8) | 56 (66.7) | 0.03 ga |
| Kuppuswamy score | 532 | 34.6 (6.4) | 34.5 (6.0) | 33.5 (6.3) | 33.2 (6.9) | 0.05 |
| Maternal education (years) | 532 | 10.5 (3.6) | 11.2 (3.1) | 10.0 (3.8) | 10.0 (3.7) | 0.01 ga |
| Religion, n (%) | ||||||
| Hindu | 294 | 57 (56.4) | 84 (41.6) | 101 (69.7) | 52 (18) | |
| Muslim | 188 | 26 (25.7) | 97 (48.0) | 39 (26.9) | 26 (14) | <0.001 ga |
| Other | 50 | 18 (17.8) | 21 (10.4) | 5 (3.5) | 6 (7.1) | |
| Level 2: family & gestational history diabetes | ||||||
| Family history of diabetes, n (%) | 521 | 22 (22.2) | 43 (21.1) | 25 (17.9) | 13 (15.7) | 0.61 ga |
| Gestational diabetes, n (%) | 503 | 5 (5.0) | 17 (7.9) | 4 (2.8) | 6 (7.1) | 0.76 ga |
| Level 3: birth outcomes | ||||||
| Birthweight (g) | 532 | 2946 (397) | 2901 (434) | 2797 (433) | 2854 (488) | 0.03 |
| Prematurity, n (%) | 532 | 7 (6.9) | 17 (8.4) | 13 (9.0) | 10 (11.9) | 0.25 |
| Level 4: infant‐feeding practices | ||||||
| Breastfeeding duration (months) | ||||||
| <6 | 60 | 13 (12.9) | 32 (15.8) | 11 (7.6) | 4 (4.8) | 0.16 ga |
| 6–11 | 134 | 28 (27.7) | 48 (23.8) | 37 (25.5) | 21 (25.0) | |
| 12–17 | 236 | 43 (42.6) | 88 (43.6) | 69 (47.6) | 36 (42.9) | |
| 18+ | 102 | 17 (16.8) | 34 (16.8) | 28 (19.3) | 23 (27.4) | |
| Level 5: household nutritional status | ||||||
| Maternal BMI at 5 years (kg m–2) | 509 | 23.5 (4.1) | 23.7 (4.1) | 23.1 (4.8) | 24.3 (5.2) | 0.58 |
| Parity, n (%) | ||||||
| No children | 267 | 60 (59.4) | 104 (51.5) | 67 (46.2) | 36 (42.9) | 0.32 ga |
| One child | 181 | 30 (29.7) | 67 (33.2) | 51 (35.2) | 33 (39.3) | |
| Two or more children | 84 | 11 (10.9) | 31 (15.4) | 27 (18.6) | 15 (17.9) | |
| Main outcomes at age 5 years | ||||||
| High BMI (>90th percentile), n (%) | 532 | 12 (11.9) | 24 (11.9) | 11 (7.6) | 7 (8.3) | 0.21 |
| Skinfolds (mm) geometric mean (+/– 1SD) | ||||||
| Subscapular | 532 | 6.1 (4.7, 8.0) | 6.0 (4.6, 7.9) | 5.8 (4.5, 7.7) | 5.9 (4.6, 7.7) | 0.19 |
| Triceps | 532 | 8.1 (6.1, 10.6) | 8.0 (6.2, 10.2) | 7.5 (6.0, 9.5) | 7.6 (6.1, 9.5) | 0.02 |
| Sum of skinfolds | 532 | 14.3 (11.1, 18.5) | 14.1 (11.1, 17.8) | 13.5 (10.7, 16.9) | 13.6 (10.9, 16.9) | 0.05 |
ga, general association; BMI, body mass index; SD, standard deviation. Data are presented as mean and SD unless otherwise stated. *Test of linear trend using age of starting regular solids in four categories, unless the test for a departure from linear trend was significant, in which case this is a likelihood ratio test for continuous variables or a χ 2 test for categorical variables, of a ga.