Table 2.
Infant Feeding Practices and Beliefs by Household Food Insecurity
| Characteristics | Overall (n=842) |
Food Secure (n =465) |
Food Insecure (n=377) |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restrictive | ||||
| Amount (Behaviors) | ||||
| I carefully control how much my child eats | 0.09a | |||
| Never | 121 (14%) | 78 (17%) | 43 (11%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 52 (6%) | 33 (7%) | 19 (5%) | |
| Half of the time | 57 (7%) | 32 (7%) | 25 (7%) | |
| Most of the time | 159 (19%) | 88 (19%) | 71 (19%) | |
| Always | 453 (54%) | 234 (50%) | 219 (58%) | |
| I am very careful not to feed my child too much | 0.27a | |||
| Never | 101 (12%) | 64 (14%) | 37 (10%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 50 (6%) | 29 (6%) | 21 (6%) | |
| Half of the time | 43 (5%) | 19 (4%) | 24 (6%) | |
| Most of the time | 142 (17%) | 78 (17%) | 64 (17%) | |
| Always | 506 (60%) | 275 (59%) | 231 (61%) | |
| Responsive | ||||
| Satiety (Behavior) | ||||
| My child lets me know when s/he is full | 0.61a | |||
| Never | 19 (2%) | 13 (3%) | 6 (2%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 23 (3%) | 12 (3%) | 11 (3%) | |
| Half of the time | 35 (4%) | 17 (4%) | 18 (5%) | |
| Most of the time | 125 (15%) | 65 (14%) | 60 (16%) | |
| Always | 640 (76%) | 358 (77%) | 282 (75%) | |
| My child lets me know when she is hungry | 0.54a | |||
| Never | 6 (1%) | 2 (0%) | 4 (1%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 10 (1%) | 5 (1%) | 5 (1%) | |
| Half of the time | 16 (2%) | 10 (2%) | 6 (2%) | |
| Most of the time | 112 (13%) | 56 (12%) | 56 (14%) | |
| Always | 698 (83%) | 392 (84%) | 306 (81%) | |
| I let my child decide how much to eat | 0.74a | |||
| Never | 181 (22%) | 107 (23%) | 74 (20%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 61 (7%) | 32 (7%) | 29 (8%) | |
| Half of the time | 69 (8%) | 35 (8%) | 34 (9%) | |
| Most of the time | 136 (16%) | 73 (16%) | 63 (17%) | |
| Always | 395 (47%) | 218 (47%) | 177 (47%) | |
| I pay attention when my baby seems to be telling me he/she is full or hungry | 0.30a | |||
| Never | 2 (0%) | 1 (0%) | 1 (0%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 2 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (1%) | |
| Half of the time | 13 (2%) | 5 (1%) | 8 (2%) | |
| Most of the time | 64 (8%) | 32 (7%) | 32 (8%) | |
| Always | 761 (90%) | 427 (92%) | 334 (89%) | |
| Pressuring | ||||
| Finishing (Behavior) | ||||
| I try to get my child to finish her breast milk or formula | 0.05a | |||
| Never | 209 (25%) | 130 (28%) | 79 (21%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 102 (12%) | 62 (13%) | 40 (11%) | |
| Half of the time | 73 (9%) | 41 (9%) | 32 (8%) | |
| Most of the time | 140 (17%) | 69 (15%) | 71 (19%) | |
| Always | 318 (38%) | 163 (35%) | 155 (41%) | |
| Finishing (Beliefs) | ||||
| It is important an infant finish all of the milk in his or her bottle | 0.05 | |||
| Disagree | 300(36%) | 184 (40%) | 116 (31%) | |
| Slightly Disagree | 99 (12%) | 55 (12%) | 44 (12%) | |
| Neutral | 121 (14%) | 67 (15% | 54 (14%) | |
| Slightly Agree | 127 (15%) | 65 (14%) | 62 (17%) | |
| Agree | 188 (23%) | 90 (20%) | 98 (26%) | |
| Soothing (Behavior) | ||||
| When my baby cries, I immediately feed him/her | 0.003a | |||
| Never | 203 (24%) | 131 (28%) | 72 (19%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 169 (20%) | 96 (21%) | 73 (19%) | |
| Half of the time | 181 (22%) | 103 (22%) | 78 (21%) | |
| Most of the time | 116 (14%) | 58 (12%) | 58 (15%) | |
| Always | 172 (20%) | 77 (17%) | 95 (25%) | |
| Soothing (Belief) | ||||
| The best way to make an infant stop crying is to feed him/her | <0.001 | |||
| Disagree | 447 (53%) | 276 (59%) | 171 (45%) | |
| Slightly disagree | 109 (13%) | 61 (13%) | 48 (13%) | |
| Neutral | 90 (11%) | 46 (10% | 44 (12%) | |
| Slightly Agree | 110 (13%) | 50 (11%) | 60 (16%) | |
| Agree | 86 (10%) | 32 (7%) | 54 (14%) | |
| Cereal (Behavior) | ||||
| I give my baby cereal in the bottle, N=826 | 0.92a | |||
| Never | 734 (89%) | 408 (89%) | 326 (89%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 53 (6%) | 31 (7%) | 22 (6%) | |
| Half of the time | 15 (2%) | 7 (2%) | 8 (2%) | |
| Most of the time | 6 (1%) | 3 (1%) | 3 (1%) | |
| Always | 18 (2%) | 9 (2%) | 9(2%) | |
| Cereal (Belief) | ||||
| Cereal in the bottle helps infants sleep through the night, N=840 | 0.61a | |||
| Disagree | 390 (46%) | 214 (46%) | 176 (47%) | |
| Slightly disagree | 47 (6%) | 26 (6%) | 21 (6%) | |
| Neutral | 212 (25%) | 112 (24%) | 100 (27%) | |
| Slightly Agree | 72 (9%) | 46 (10%) | 26 (7%) | |
| Agree | 119 (14%) | 66 (14%) | 53 (14%) | |
| Always | 69 (8%) | 33 (7%) | 36 (10%) | |
| Laissez-Faire | ||||
| Attention (Behaviors) | ||||
| I watch TV while feeding | 0.51a | |||
| Never | 208 (25%) | 115 (25% | 93 (25% | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 248 (29%) | 134 (29%) | 114 (30%) | |
| Half of the time | 217 (26% | 129 (28% | 88 (23%) | |
| Most of the time | 100 (12%) | 54 (12%) | 46 (12% | |
| Always | 69 (8%) | 33 (7%) | 36 (10%) | |
| When my child has a bottle, I prop it up, N=817 | 0.09a | |||
| Never | 626 (77%) | 351 (78%) | 275(76%) | |
| Seldom or infrequently | 101 (12%) | 55 (12%) | 46 (13%) | |
| Half of the time | 37 (5%) | 18 (4%) | 19 (5%) | |
| Most of the time | 24 (3%) | 18 (4%) | 6 (2%) | |
| Attention (Beliefs) | ||||
| I think it is ok to prop an infant's bottle to hold it in place, N=840 | 0.26a | |||
| Disagree | 616 (73%) | 349 (75%) | 267 (71%) | |
| Slight Disagree | 50 (6%) | 29 (6%) | 21 (6%) | |
| Neutral | 49 (6%) | 27 (6%) | 22 (6%) | |
| Slightly Agree | 62 (7%) | 26 (6%) | 36 (10%) | |
| Agree | 63 (8%) | 33 (7% | 30 (8%) | |
a
Pearson Chi-square test