Predictors of the early introduction of solid foods in infants: results of a cohort study

BMC Pediatrics

Table 2 Factors independently^a associated with the introduction of solid foods before 17 weeks (n = 440)

	Mean age of introduction of solids (weeks)	AdjOR	95% CI
Maternal age (yrs)
<20	14.2	4.25	1.21, 14.93
20-29	17.0	1.40	0.02, 2.12
>30	18.7	1.00
Mother smoked prior to pregnancy
Yes	16.0	1.91	1.26, 2.90
No	18.7	1.00
Feeding method at 4 weeks
Fully formula fed	15.5	2.61	1.48, 4.61
Partially breastfed	17.0	1.80	1.02, 3.13
Fully breastfed	18.9	1.00

a Non-significant factors included infant sex, birth weight and whether the infant had been admitted to the Special Care Nursery (SCN), infant feeding method at discharge, mother's level of education, marital status, country of birth, parity, whether she had returned to work by 12 months postpartum and her infant feeding attitude score
b All variables in the final model were variables for which when excluded the change in deviance compared with the corresponding X ² test statistics on the relevant degrees of freedom was significant.
^CAdjusted odds ratios were derived from the logistic regression coefficients.

ISSN: 1471-2431