Infant Feeding Pattern Clusters Are Associated with Childhood Health Outcomes

(1) Background: Feeding behavior habits have a pattern with a certain tendency during infancy. We aimed to identify the associations between feeding patterns in infancy and the subsequent 10-year childhood disease burden. (2) Methods: Data from 236,372 infants were obtained from the national health...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ju Hee Kim, Eun Lee, Eun Kyo Ha, Gi Chun Lee, Jeewon Shin, Hey-Sung Baek, Sun-Hee Choi, Youn Ho Shin, Man Yong Han
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-07-01
Series:Nutrients
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/13/3065
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Summary:(1) Background: Feeding behavior habits have a pattern with a certain tendency during infancy. We aimed to identify the associations between feeding patterns in infancy and the subsequent 10-year childhood disease burden. (2) Methods: Data from 236,372 infants were obtained from the national health insurance and screening program records in South Korea. Parent-administered questionnaires during infancy provided details on the feeding type and types/frequency of complementary food for analyzing feeding patterns. The outcomes were all-cause hospitalization and the development of 15 representative childhood diseases until the age of 10 years. Anthropometric measurements obtained at 6 years of age were analyzed. To estimate outcome risks while considering multiple risk factors, we employed a Cox proportional hazard and modified Poisson regression. (3) Results: Three clusters were identified: high prevalence of breastfeeding with regular exposure to a variety of solid foods (<i>n</i> = 116,372, cluster 1), similar prevalence of breastfeeding and formula feeding with less exposure to solid foods (<i>n</i> = 108,189, cluster 2), and similar prevalence of breastfeeding and formula feeding with the least exposure to solid foods in infancy (<i>n</i> = 11,811, cluster 3). Compared with cluster 1, children in clusters 2 and 3 had increased risks of all-cause hospitalization (hazard ratio (HR), (95% confidence interval (CI)), 1.04 (1.03–1.06) and 1.08 (1.05–1.11), respectively). Children in clusters 2 and 3 had an increased risk of upper respiratory infection, pneumonia, and gastroenteritis, as well as neurobehavioral diseases. Overweight/obesity at the age of 6 years was associated with clusters 2 and 3. (4) Conclusions: Feeding patterns in infancy were associated with an increased risk of childhood disease burden.
ISSN:2072-6643