Mixed Milk Feeding: A New Approach to Describe Feeding Patterns in the First Year of Life Based on Individual Participant Data from Two Randomised Controlled Trials.

ABSTRACT: 'Mixed Milk Feeding' (MMF), whereby infants are fed with both breastmilk and infant formula during the same period, is a common feeding practice. Despite its high prevalence, knowledge regarding MMF practices and their association with (health) outcomes is limited, potentially because MMF behaviours are highly variable and difficult to standardise longitudinally. In this paper, we applied a statistical clustering algorithm on individual infant feeding data collected over the first year of life from two clinical trials: 'TEMPO' (n = 855) and 'Venus' (n = 539); these studies were conducted in different years and world regions. In TEMPO, more than half of infants were MMF. Four distinct MMF clusters were identified: early exclusive formula feeding (32%), later exclusive formula

SUBMITTER: Papadopoulos NG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9182968 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature