Table 1.
Characteristics of study population by ethnicity (n = 244). All values are % (n) unless otherwise stated.
| Dutch (n = 116) | Turkish (n = 128) | |
| % (n) | % (n) | |
| Maternal characteristics | ||
| Age, years (mean, SD) | 32.5 (4.4) | 28.7 (4.7) |
| Parity, primipara | 58.6 (68) | 28.1 (36) |
| Smoking during pregnancy | 9.5 (11) | 21.1 (26) |
| BMI | ||
| Normal weight | 64.3 (54) | 28.7 (25) |
| Overweight (including obesity) | 35.7 (30) | 71.3 (62) |
| Unknown | (32) | (41) |
| Educational level | ||
| Low | 4.3 (5) | 50.0 (64) |
| Medium | 19.8 (23) | 37.5 (48) |
| High | 75.9 (88) | 12.5 (16) |
| Infant characteristics | ||
| Birth weight, grams (mean, SD) | 3547 (473) | 3537 (527) |
| Gestational age, days (mean, SD) | 281 (8.9) | 279 (8.1) |
| Sex, boy | 48.3 (56) | 52.3 (67) |
| Infant feeding factors | ||
| Full BF duration, months | ||
| <6 months | 85.3 (99) | 65.6 (84) |
| ≥6 months | 14.7 (17) | 34.4 (44) |
| Milk feeding frequency per day at 6 months (mean, SD) | 5.0 (1.4) | 5.9 (2.2) |
| CF frequency per day at 6 months (mean, SD) | 1.6 (1.0) | 2.1 (1.1) |
| Timing of CF introduction | ||
| <6 months | 72.4 (84) | 64.8 (83) |
| ≥6 months | 27.6 (32) | 35.2 (45) |
| Dutch (n = 116) | Turkish (n = 128) | |
| % (n) | % (n) | |
| CF variety score at 6 months | ||
| 1 | 55.2 (64) | 28.6 (38) |
| 2 | 38.8 (45) | 36.7 (47) |
| ≥3 | 6.0 (7) | 35.9 (46) |
| Types of complementary foods at 6 months a | ||
| Fruits and vegetables | 91.8 (123) | 85.7 (114) |
| Dairy products | 6.7 (9) | 44.4 (59) |
| Bread, cereals | 26.9 (36) | 29.3 (39) |
| Cookies | 12.7 (17) | 19.5 (26) |
| Other savory foods | 6.5 (6) | 39.8 (53) |
| Childhood BMI and overweight | ||
| 2 years (n = 250) | ||
| BMI-sds, mean (SD) | 0.53 (0.82) | 0.56 (1.03) |
| Overweight b | 5.3 (5) | 6.2 (7) |
| 3 years (n = 248) | ||
| BMI-sds, mean (SD) | 0.18 (0.80) | 0.53 (1.01) |
| Overweight b | 4.3 (4) | 11.5 (13) |
| 5 years (n = 206) | ||
| BMI-sds, mean (SD) | −0.04 (0.83) | 0.63 (1.04) |
| Overweight c | 7.5 (7) | 23.5 (25) |
BF = breastfeeding; CF = complementary feeding. Missing data (n): maternal BMI (73), smoking (5), maternal age (9), gestational age (4). a Multiple types of complementary foods can be reported. b Defined as BMI > 2+ SD above the age- and sex-specific WHO 2006 Child Growth Standards median [24]. c Defined as BMI > +1 SD above the age- and sex-specific WHO 2007 Child Growth Standards median [23].