Skip to main content

Table 2 Association of Length of Exclusive Breastfeeding with Ferritin and Hemoglobina (Nā€‰=ā€‰270)

From: Effect of infant feeding practices on iron status in a cohort study of Bolivian infants

Ā 

Ferritin

Hb

Percent Difference from Referent

CI

P value**

Percent Difference from Referent

CI

P value**

Length of exclusive breastfeeding b

<ā€‰ 4Ā months (ref.; Nā€‰=ā€‰93)

0.0

ā€“

0.043

0.0

ā€“

0.039

4 -ā€‰<ā€‰6Ā months (Nā€‰=ā€‰156)

āˆ’16.3

(āˆ’31.9, 2.9)

ā€“

āˆ’2.7

(āˆ’5.1, āˆ’0.3)

ā€“

ā‰„ 6Ā months (Nā€‰=ā€‰21)

āˆ’38.2

(āˆ’62.5, āˆ’4.9)

ā€“

āˆ’4.4

(āˆ’9.1, 0.7)

ā€“

Covariates

Infant ā‰„7Ā months old at blood draw (vs. 6 mo.)

āˆ’22.2

(āˆ’30.4, āˆ’ā€‰13.0)

<ā€‰ 0.0001

āˆ’1.6

(āˆ’ā€‰2.9, āˆ’ā€‰0.3)

0.017

Male sex (vs. female)

48.9

(21.3, 82.7)

0.0002

4.1

(1.6, 6.6)

0.001

Birth weightc

25.9

(13.9, 39.1)

<ā€‰ 0.0001

2.9

(1.7, 4.1)

<ā€‰ 0.0001

Maternal employment (vs. none)

34.1

(6.9, 68.3)

0.012

1.7

(āˆ’1.0, 4.4)

0.23

Mother has completed university education (vs. lower levels of education or no education)

51.0

(9.6, 108.1)

0.012

1.1

(āˆ’2.7, 5.0)

0.58

  1. aFerritin and Hb log-transformed to meet normality assumptions. Percent change calculated based on back-transformed values. **Wald Chi-Square tests. bDefined as infant received no semi-solid or solid foods or non-breastmilk liquids until reaching 4Ā months of age. Based on maternal recall. c500g increase