BACKGROUND Community-based peer support has been shown to be effective in improving exclusive breastfeeding rates in a variety of settings. METHODS We conducted a cost analysis of a community cluster randomised-controlled trial (Promise-EBF), aimed at promoting exclusive infant feeding in three sites in South Africa. The costs were considered from the perspective of health service providers. ...

Novel uses of ultrasound include obtaining images of intra-oral structures to further research in speech production and feeding. In this technical note we describe a noninvasive, cost-effective, and reliable method for measuring infant tongue muscle thickness. The current pilot study demonstrates high reliability of a trained ultrasonographer to obtain adequate images of the infant tongue and t...

Preterm infants develop the skills necessary to begin oral feeding as their health stabilizes and as they reach a postconceptional age that supports coordination of breathing and swallowing with oral-motor functioning. The time from initiation of oral feeding to full oral feedings (with adequate intake for growth and maintenance of physiologic stability) can vary from days to months for the pre...

OBJECTIVE To describe patterns of bottle-feeding across the first year postpartum and explore whether bottle-feeding trajectories are differentially associated with infant weight gain. METHOD Data came from 1291 mothers who participated in the Infant Feeding Practices Study 2. Mothers completed a prenatal questionnaire and monthly surveys of infant feeding and growth between birth and 12 mont...

BACKGROUND Infant feeding practices, including breastfeeding and optimal formula feeding practices, can play a role in the prevention of childhood obesity. The ubiquity of smartphone ownership among women of childbearing age provides important opportunities for the delivery of low-cost, broad reach parenting interventions delivered by mobile phone (mHealth or mobile health interventions). Littl...

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of breast feeding on regional differences in infant mortality in Germany in 1910, when other social, medical, and economic factors are controlled. Around 1910 the infant mortality rate ranged from 78/1000 to 276/1000, and the percentage of infants ever breast fed varied from 25% to 95%. There was a rough correlation of breast feeding with low ...

Using data from India's first National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1), this study examines breast-feeding practices and their effect on infant mortality in India. Conducted in 1992-93, NFHS-1 collected complete birth histories from a probability sample of 89,777 ever-married women aged 13-49 years. In the study, the breast-feeding status of infants at ages 2,7, and 11 months and the effects of...

BACKGROUND There is a strong rationale for intervening in early childhood to prevent obesity. Over a quarter of infants gain weight more rapidly than desirable during the first six months of life putting them at greater risk of obesity in childhood. However, little is known about UK healthcare professionals' (HCPs) approach to primary prevention. This study explored obesity-related knowledge of...

This is a study of infant feeding practices of 126 mothers. Seventy-seven mothers or 61.1% practised breast feeding. The typical breast feeding mother was more likely to be a Malay, with lower family income and residing in the rural area. The educational status of the mother was not an important factor in influencing her to breast feed. Health education on breast feeding should be intensified i...

The Sanitation Hygiene Infant Nutrition Efficacy (SHINE) trial is designed to measure the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene and improved infant feeding on child stunting and anemia in Zimbabwe. We developed and pilot-tested the infant feeding intervention delivered by 9 village health workers to 19 mothers of infants aged 7-12 months. Between September ...