Early introduction of solid foods among urban African-American participants in WIC

Objective To compare infant feeding practices among low-income, urban, Afri can-American women enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program f or Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) with current recommendations for infa nt feeding. Design Longitudinal follow-up of women and their infants who participated i n a WIC-based breast-feeding promotion project. Women enrolled prenatally a t or before 24 weeks of gestation were followed up until 16 weeks postpartu m. Subjects/setting Two hundred seventeen African-American WIC participants in an urban area. Methods Data related to infant feeding practices were collected by intervie wers who used a structured questionnaire to determine when nonmilk liquids or solids were introduced to the infant. Reported practices were compared w ith current recommendations. Statistical analysis performed Contingency table analysis, including;chi(2) tests, and multivariate analysis using logistic regression. Results By 7 to 10 days postpartum, approximately a third of infants were r eceiving some nonmilk liquids or solids; this escalated to 77% by 8 weeks a nd 93% by 16 weeks postpartum. Women breast-feeding exclusively (ie, not ad ding nonmilk liquids or solids) were least likely, and women providing mixe d feeding (breast milk and formula) were more likely, than women feeding fo rmula exclusively to introduce nonmilk liquids and solids at each data coll ection time period, Applications/conclusions WIC participants who receive instruction about inf ant feeding nutrition are no more likely than mothers who do not participat e in WIC to follow infant feeding guidelines recommended by the American Ac ademy of Pediatrics in regard to the time when Solids should be introduced to infants' diet. Our findings suggest the need for WIC to implement more p owerful and innovative educational and motivational strategies to help moth ers delay the introduction of nonmilk liquids and solid foods until their i nfants are 4 to 6 months old, as recommended.