Characteristics Associated With Adding Cereal Into the Bottle Among Immigrant Mother-Infant Dyads of Low Socioeconomic Status and Hispanic Ethnicity

Abstract

Objective: Determine maternal and infant characteristics associated with adding cereal into the bottle.

Design: Secondary data analysis.

Participants: Study participants were immigrant, low-income, urban mother-infant dyads (n = 216; 91% Hispanic, 19% US-born) enrolled in a randomized controlled trial entitled the Bellevue Project for Early Language, Literacy and Education Success.

Main outcome measures: Maternal characteristics (age, marital status, ethnicity, primary language, country of origin, education, work status, income, depressive symptoms, and concern about infant's future weight) and infant characteristics (gender, first born, and difficult temperament).

Analysis: Fisher exact test, chi-square test, and simultaneous multiple logistic regression of significant (P < .05) variables identified in unadjusted analyses.

Results: Twenty-seven percent of mothers added cereal into the bottle. After adjusting for confounding variables identified in bivariate analyses, mothers who were single (P = .02), had moderate to severe depressive symptoms (P = .01) and perceived their infant had a difficult temperament (P = .03) were more likely to add cereal into the bottle. Conversely, mothers who expressed concern about their infants becoming overweight were less likely to add cereal (P = .02).

Conclusions and implications: Health care providers should screen for adding cereal in infant bottles. Further research is needed to investigate the impact of adding cereal into the bottle on weight trajectories over time. Causal associations also need to be identified to effectively prevent this practice.

Keywords: Hispanic; cereal in the bottle; feeding; infant; low-income; responsive feeding.