Table 1.
Sociodemographic, maternal, and child characteristics by infant feeding practice at 40 days and at 6 months in Lebanon
| Characteristics # | At 40 days (N = 947) | At 6 months (N = 893) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBF (n = 393) |
Mixed fed (n = 361) |
EBOT (n = 191) |
p - value* | EBF (n = 110) |
Mixed fed (n = 343) |
BOT + SF (n = 358) |
p - value* | |
| Sociodemographic characteristics | ||||||||
| Governorate of residence | ||||||||
| Beirut | 43 (10.9) | 31 (8.6) | 15 (7.9) | 0.074 | 14 (12.7) a,b | 31 (9.0) a | 33 (9.2) b | 0.009 |
| Mount Lebanon | 123 (31.3) | 95 (26.3) | 67 (35.1) | 36 (32.7) a,b | 83 (24.2) a | 126 (35.2) b | ||
| North Lebanon | 151 (38.4) | 134 (37.1) | 58 (30.4) | 37 (33.6) a,b | 152 (44.3) a | 107 (29.9) b | ||
| South Lebanon & Nabatieh | 53 (13.5) | 67 (18.6) | 34 (17.8) | 17 (15.5) a,b | 52 (15.2) a | 64 (17.9) b | ||
| Bekaa | 23 (5.9) | 34 (9.4) | 17 (8.9) | 6 (5.5) a,b | 25 (7.3) a | 28 (7.8) b | ||
| Family monthly income (USD) | ||||||||
| ≤ 400 | 39 (9.9) | 38 (10.6) | 10 (5.2) | 0.341 | 6 (5.5) a,b | 49 (14.4) a | 17 (4.8) b | < 0.001 |
| 400.1–1000 | 180 (45.9) | 153 (42.6) | 89 (46.6) | 56 (50.9) a,b | 161 (47.2) a | 157 (44.0) b | ||
| 1000.1–2000 | 66 (16.8) | 65 (18.1) | 47 (24.6) | 15 (13.6) a,b | 49 (14.4) a | 82 (23.0) b | ||
| > 2000 | 36 (9.2) | 30 (8.4) | 15 (7.9) | 13 (11.8) a,b | 16 (4.7) a | 40 (11.2) b | ||
| Doesn’t know | 42 (10.7) | 42 (11.7) | 16 (8.4) | 12 (10.9) a,b | 44 (12.9) a | 29 (8.1) b | ||
| Refused to answer | 29 (7.4) | 31 (8.6) | 14 (7.3) | 8 (7.3) a,b | 22 (6.5) a | 32 (9.0) b | ||
| Paternal educational level | ||||||||
| Intermediate or lower | 210 (54.7) a,b | 205 (57.6) a | 92 (48.2) b | 0.035 | 57 (52.3) a,b | 208 (61.7) a | 175 (49.2) b | 0.023 |
| Secondary education or technical diploma | 113 (29.4) a,b | 96 (27.0) a | 76 (39.8) b | 35 (32.1) a,b | 87 (25.8) a | 123 (34.6) b | ||
| University degree | 61 (15.9) a,b | 55 (15.4) a | 23 (12.0) b | 17 (15.6) a,b | 42 (12.5) a | 58 (16.3) b | ||
| Paternal employment status | ||||||||
| Government or private sector | 229 (58.3) | 209 (57.9) | 117 (61.3) | 0.400 | 67 (60.9) | 196 (57.1) | 219 (61.2) | 0.414 |
| Self-employed | 137 (34.9) | 136 (37.7) | 67 (35.1) | 34 (30.9) | 130 (37.9) | 122 (34.1) | ||
| Unemployed | 27 (6.9) | 16 (4.4) | 7 (3.7) | 9 (8.2) | 17 (5.0) | 17 (4.7) | ||
| House ownership | ||||||||
| Yes | 230 (58.5) | 215 (59.6) | 122 (63.9) | 0.454 | 60 (54.5) | 206 (60.1) | 222 (62.0) | 0.375 |
| No | 163 (41.5) | 146 (40.4) | 69 (36.1) | 50 (45.5) | 137 (39.9) | 136 (38.0) | ||
| Number of owned cars | ||||||||
| 0 | 90 (22.9) a | 87 (24.1) a,b | 36 (18.8) b | 0.046 | 24 (21.8) a,b | 96 (28.0) a | 57 (15.9) b | < 0.001 |
| 1 | 235 (59.8) a | 204 (56.5) a,b | 102 (53.4) b | 66 (60.0) a,b | 202 (58.9) a | 198 (55.3) b | ||
| ≥ 2 | 68 (17.3) a | 70 (19.4) a,b | 53 (27.7) b | 20 (18.2) a,b | 45 (13.1) a | 103 (28.8) b | ||
| Crowding index (individuals/room) | ||||||||
| ≥ 1 | 349 (88.8) | 309 (85.6) | 163 (85.3) | 0.334 | 99 (90.0) | 303 (88.3) | 301 (84.1) | 0.138 |
| < 1 | 44 (11.2) | 52 (14.4) | 28 (14.7) | 11 (10.0) | 40 (11.7) | 57 (15.9) | ||
| Number of children | ||||||||
| 1–2 | 199 (50.6) a | 203 (56.2) a,b | 127 (66.5) b | 0.001 | 59 (53.6) a,b | 162 (47.2) a | 229 (64.0) b | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 3 | 194 (49.4) a | 158 (43.8) a,b | 64 (33.5) b | 51 (46.4) a,b | 181 (52.8) a | 129 (36.0) b | ||
| Maternal characteristics | ||||||||
| Age (years) $ | 32.1 ± 5.7 | 31.2 ± 6.6 | 31.4 ± 6.6 | 0.122 | 32.5 ± 5.9 | 32.2 ± 6.3 | 31.3 ± 6.4 | 0.064 |
| Educational level | ||||||||
| Intermediate or lower | 201 (51.1) | 180 (49.9) | 79 (41.4) | 0.067 | 52 (47.3) a,b | 193 (56.3) a | 150 (41.9) b | 0.001 |
| Secondary education or technical diploma | 103 (26.2) | 106 (29.4) | 72 (37.7) | 30 (27.3) a,b | 97 (28.3) a | 121 (33.8) b | ||
| University degree | 89 (22.6) | 75 (20.8) | 40 (20.9) | 28 (25.5) a,b | 53 (15.5) a | 87 (24.3) b | ||
| Employment status | ||||||||
| Employed | 65 (16.5) | 62 (17.2) | 40 (20.9) | 0.404 | 14 (12.7) | 47 (13.7) | 71 (19.8) | 0.050 |
| Housewives | 328 (83.5) | 299 (82.8) | 151 (79.1) | 96 (87.3) | 296 (86.3) | 287 (80.2) | ||
| BMI (kg/m2) | ||||||||
| Normal weight (< 25) | 163 (44.4) | 137 (42.2) | 71 (40.3) | 0.903 | 57 (53.3) a | 118 (37.7) b | 148 (45.8) a,b | 0.024 |
| Overweight (25–29.99) | 117 (31.9) | 108 (33.2) | 58 (33.0) | 29 (27.1) a | 103 (32.9) b | 105 (32.5) a,b | ||
| Obese (≥ 30) | 87 (23.7) | 80 (24.6) | 47 (26.7) | 21 (19.6) a | 92 (29.4) b | 70 (21.7) a,b | ||
| Child characteristics | ||||||||
| Age (months) $ | 29.6 ± 15.6 a | 25.9 ± 16.1 b | 25.2 ± 16.4 b | 0.001 | 32.3 ± 13.7 a | 28.9 ± 14.7 a,b | 27.5 ± 15.5 b | 0.014 |
| Gender | ||||||||
| Male | 187 (47.6) | 192 (53.2) | 103 (53.9) | 0.204 | 49 (44.5) | 174 (50.7) | 195 (54.5) | 0.176 |
| Female | 206 (52.4) | 169 (46.8) | 88 (46.1) | 61 (55.5) | 169 (49.3) | 163 (45.5) | ||
| Mode of delivery | ||||||||
| Vaginal | 241 (61.5) a | 197 (55.0) a | 79 (41.4) b | < 0.001 | 74 (67.3) a | 205 (59.9) a | 157 (44.1) b | < 0.001 |
| C-section | 151 (38.5) a | 161 (45.0) a | 112 (58.6) b | 36 (32.7) a | 137 (40.1) a | 199 (55.9) b | ||
| Birthweight (g) $ | 3218.2 ± 500.9 | 3244.4 ± 562.7 | 3169.7 ± 547.0 | 0.297 | 3293.5 ± 512.0 | 3232.1 ± 540.3 | 3188.6 ± 536.9 | 0.178 |
| Birth length (cm) $ | 50.3 ± 3.0 | 50.3 ± 3.0 | 50.3 ± 3.4 | 0.986 | 50.3 ± 3.3 | 50.3 ± 2.8 | 50.3 ± 3.1 | 0.988 |
| Weight (kg) $ | 13.2 ± 3.8 a | 12.5 ± 4.2 b | 12.7 ± 3.9 a,b | 0.043 | 14.0 ± 3.5 a | 12.9 ± 3.5 b | 13.2 ± 3.5 a,b | 0.018 |
| Height (cm) $ | 87.9 ± 12.8 a | 84.8 ± 14.2 b | 84.9 ± 14.3 b | 0.004 | 90.6 ± 11.1 a | 87.4 ± 12.0 b | 87.4 ± 12.4 b | 0.035 |
# Data are presented as frequency (%) unless otherwise stated
$ Data are presented as mean ± SD
* Overall p-values compare the three infant feeding groups together and are calculated using chi-squared test for categorical variables and ANOVA for continuous variables
a-b Infant feeding practices with different superscripts differ significantly after Bonferroni adjustment (p - value < 0.0167)