MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT - DOES IT INFLUENCE FEEDING PRACTICES DURING INFANCY

Background: Although at least 30% of women with young children partici pate in the labour force, there has been very little research into the effect of maternal employment on the diets of young children. Increas ingly it is being recognized that early feeding practices affect futur e health and may have a part to play in the development of eating diso rders. Therefore it was decided to conduct a study in Sheffield to det ermine whether maternal employment influences infant feeding practices . Methods: Mothers from social classes I and II (employed n=27; unempl oyed n=28) with infants aged 10-12 months were interviewed in their ho mes. Information was collected on past and present food and drink cons umption, weaning practices, and progression to independent feeding. Re sults: Employed mothers stopped breast-feeding earlier. This differenc e became evident after 2 months of age and reached significance at 4 m onths (P<0.05). Employed mothers introduced foods earlier and relied m ore on commercial baby foods, with significantly more spending over po und 7-12 per week at the time of the survey (P<0.05). Conclusions: Mat ernal employment does influence infant feeding practices and consequen tly may have repercussions on future health. Further studies are neede d to investigate the long-term effects of maternal employment on infan t feeding practices, particularly amongst lower socio-economic class f amilies.