The objectives of this study were to estimate the age of complementary feeding introduction (CFI) and investigate the related health, demographic, and socio-economic factors. Analyses were based on 10,931 infants from the French national birth cohort ELFE, born in 2011. Health, demographic, and socio-economic data concerning infants and parents were collected at birth (face-to-face interviews and medical records) and 2 months (telephone interviews). Data on milk feeding and CFI practices were collected at birth and 2 months then monthly from 3 to 10 months using online or paper questionnaires. The associations between both health and social factors and CFI age were tested by multivariable multinomial logistic regressions. The mean CFI age was 5.2 ± 1.2 months; 26% of the infants started complementary feeding before 4 months of age (CF < 4 months), 62% between 4 and 6 months of age, and 12% after 6 months of age (CF > 6 months). CF < 4 months was more likely when mothers smoked, were overweight/obese, younger (<29 years), and used their personal experience as an information source in child caregiving and when both parents were not born in France. CF < 4 months was less likely when the infant was a girl, second-born, when the mother breastfed longer, and had attended at least one birth preparation class. Mothers of second-born infants and who breastfed their child longer were more likely to introduce CF > 6 months. Couples in which fathers were born in France and mothers were not born in France were less likely to introduce CF > 6 months. CF < 4 months occurred in more than 25% of the cases. It is important to continue promoting clear CFI recommendations, especially in smoking, overweight, young, not born in France, and nonbreastfeeding mothers.
Keywords: birth cohort; caregiving; complementary feeding; food frequency questionnaire; infant feeding; socio-economic factors.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.