Table 3.
Risk ratios and their 95% confidence intervals for food allergy symptomatic children and diagnosed children
| Variables | Food allergy symptoms (N = 326) | Doctors’ diagnosed food allergy(N = 76) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Risk ratio (95% CI) | p value | Risk ratio (95% CI) | p value | |
| Direct feeding at the breast for 3 months (DBF-3m) | 1.00 (reference) | – | 1.00 (reference) | – |
| Pumping and feeding for the first 3 months (DBF/BM) | 1.22 (0.81, 1.83) | 0.34 | 1.01 (0.24, 4.28) | 0.99 |
| Mixed modes of feeding from the beginning (DBF/BM/FF) | 1.54 (1.04, 2.29) | 0.03* | 2.13 (0.69, 6.53) | 0.19 |
| Direct feeding at the breast for 1 month (DBFShort) | 1.05 (0.64, 1.72) | 0.84 | 1.79 (0.45, 7.06) | 0.41 |
| Formula feeding for 3 months (FF-2-3) | 1.34 (0.89, 2.02) | 0.16 | 2.04 (0.69, 6.07) | 0.20 |
| Formula and solid food from the start (FFSF) | 1.09 (0.61, 1.95) | 0.78 | 1.89 (0.42, 8.44) | 0.41 |
| Maternal Allergy | 1.02 (0.71, 1.49) | 0.90 | 2.13 (0.98, 4.64) | 0.06 |
| Paternal Allergy | 1.36 (1.01, 1.83) | 0.04* | 2.39 (0.95, 6.04) | 0.06 |
| Offspring sex: Boy | 0.90 (0.72, 1.12) | 0.33 | 0.95 (0.50, 1.78) | 0.86 |
| Prenatal smoking | 1.45 (0.97, 2.15) | 0.07 | 2.97 (1.53, 5.79) | 0.001* |
| Caesarian section | 0.98 (0.77, 1.24) | 0.85 | 0.97 (0.86, 1.09) | 0.62 |
| Off spring BMI (kg/m2) | 0.98 (0.93, 1.02) | 0.30 | 1.27 (0.68, 2.40) | 0.45 |
DBF-3 m Direct feeding at the breast i.e., feeding directly at the breast for at least 3 months, not including pumping methods or any other additional food or liquid, followed by mixed feeding; this group constituted our reference group, DBF/BM Direct feeding at the breast as well as pumping and feeding includes direct feeding at the breast and feeding of stored breast milk (BM) for the first 3 months, followed by mixed feeding, DBF/BM/FF Concurrent application of direct feeding at the breast, pumping and feeding and formula feeding in the first 6 months, DBFShort Direct feeding at the breast for a month and then mixed modes of feeding, FF-2-3 Formula Food for the first 2 to 3 months followed by formula and/or solid food, FFSF Parallel use of formula or solid food since the first month
*significant at alpha = 0.05; 95% CI – 95% confidence interval