Feeding style profiles are associated with maternal and infant characteristics and infant feeding practices and weight outcomes in African American mothers and infants.

Feeding style profiles are associated with maternal and infant characteristics and infant feeding practices and weight outcomes in African American mothers and infants. Appetite. 2020 Dec 24;:105084 Authors: Thompson AL, Wasser H, Nulty A, Bentley ME Abstract Much literature links individual feeding styles to infant feeding practices and growth; however, parents' feeding styles are not discrete and may vary by context. We use latent profile analysis (LPA) as a person-centered approach to categorize infant feeding style patterns, test factors predicting profile membership, and examine if profiles are associated with infant feeding and weight. Additionally, we test the impact of a responsive feeding intervention on profile membership and stability. Data come from 270 African-American women and infants participating in the Mothers and Others Study, an early life obesity prevention intervention. LPA was used to categorize mothers across five constructs (laissez-faire, pressuring, restrictive, responsive and indulgent) measured at 28-weeks gestation and 3 and 15 months postpartum. Adjusted multinomial regression and regression models test the characteristics associated with profile membership and the associations between profile membership and breastfeeding and infant weight-for-age z-score (WAZ). We identified two groups (Positive and Less Responsive) prenatally, an additional group (High Controlling) at 3 months and a fourth group (High...
Source: Appetite - Category: Nutrition Authors: Tags: Appetite Source Type: research