Table 2.
Number (%) of participants who had been breastfeeding at the age of 8–10 weeks who were still breastfeeding at or beyond 6 months, by age of first solids feeding, maternal age, education, and social class
| Predictor | ALSPAC | p d | SWS | p d | IFS | p d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number (%) | Number (%) | Number (%) | ||||
| Overall | 3,594 (59.1) | 779 (51.9) | 1,589 (56.2)e | |||
| Solid food introduced | ||||||
| <4 months | 2,218 (54.2) | <.001 | 130 (45.0) | .019 | 297 (51.5) | .008 |
| 4 months | 1,120 (68.3) | 419 (51.9) | 491 (56.1) | |||
| ≥5 months | 230 (77.2) | 202 (54.4) | 755 (58.2) | |||
| Mother's age | ||||||
| 24 years or less | 313 (43.4) | <.001 | 24 (32.0) | .003 | 130 (53.3) | .630 |
| 25 to 34 years | 2,707 (59.7) | 619 (52.3) | 1,036 (56.5) | |||
| 35 years or more | 574 (69.5) | 136 (56.2) | 420 (56.5) | |||
| Mother's highest educational qualifications | ||||||
| None/CSEa | 297 (48.4) | .0001 | 40 (38.5) | <.001 | ‐ | |
| Vocational traininga | 191 (47.3) | ‐ | ||||
| O levela | 1,001 (51.4) | 137 (40.8) | ||||
| A levelb | 1,093 (37.4) | 223 (49.6) | ||||
| HNDc | ‐ | 68 (53.5) | ||||
| University degree | 953 (76.2) | 308 (64.2) | ||||
| Social class–maternal | ||||||
| Professional | 363 (78.1) | <.001 | 64 (66.7) | .003 | ||
| Management/technical | 1,280 (63.8) | 336 (54.5) | ‐ | |||
| Skilled nonmanual | 1,038 (52.4) | 229 (46.9) | ||||
| Skilled manual | 159 (56.0) | 51 (49.5) | ||||
| Partly skilled | 206 (55.5) | 72 (50.0) | ||||
| Unskilled | 32 (57.1) | 7 (36.8) | ||||
| Social class–maternal | ||||||
| Professional/managerial | 902 (58.6) | .0011 | ||||
| Intermediate occupations | ‐ | ‐ | 272 (54.3) | |||
| Routine/manual occupations | 249 (51.7) | |||||
| Never worked | 44 (46.8) |
a
Completed by the age of 16.
b
Completed at the age of 18.
c
Equivalent to 2 years at university.
d
Chi2 linear trend.
e
In ALSPAC and SWS, this was the number still feeding at or beyond six completed months. For IFS, this was the number still feeding beyond 5 months and up to 6 months, or beyond.
Abbreviations: ALSPAC, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; SWS, Southampton Womans Survey; IFS 2010, Infant Feeding Survey 2010; CSE, Certificate of Secondary Education; HND, Higher National Diploma.