Premastication and length for age among children under 24months in Laos

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Joe Conkle, Emory University; Sengchanh Kounnavong, National Institute of Public Health, The Ministry of Health, Vientiane Laos; Melissa Young, Emory University; Aryeh Stein, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-01-01
• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12456
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Maternal & Child Nutrition
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: e12456
• End Page: e12456
• Grant/Funding Information: None declared
• Keywords: Mothers; child feeding; Science & Technology; Dietary; complementary feeding; premastication; Risk Factors; Paleolithic nutrition; anthropometry; Infants; Pediatrics; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Food; Nutrition & Dietetics; infant feeding; Health; Infection; prechewing
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Nutrition; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Human Development

Abstract

Premastication of infant food by caregivers is common in Laos. Premastication is hypothesized to have both positive and negative implications for children, but the net effect of premastication on child health and nutrition is largely unknown because of a lack of research. This study quantitatively describes premastication in 5 provinces of Laos and examines the associations between premastication and the length of young children. We analyzed cross-sectional data from the Laos 2015 Food and Nutrition Security Survey to characterize premastication among children under 2 years of age (n = 1,661) and to test associations between premastication and child length-for-age z-score. We explored associations using multilevel mixed effects linear regression. Among children 0–23 months, 27.2% of mothers reported giving premasticated food in the past week. Receipt of premasticated food was inversely associated with length-for-age z-score after controlling for potential confounders (child's age, ethno-linguistic group, wealth, and parity) among children 6–13 months (β −0.36, CI [−0.68, −0.04]) and among children 14–23 months (β −0.43, CI [−0.81, −0.05]). For breastfed children 0–5 months who received complementary food, the coefficient was similar, but the association was not statistically significant (β −0.42, CI [−1.2, 0.37]). Premastication is a common feeding practice for children 0–23 months of age, and many infants consume premasticated food on a daily basis. There was a negative relationship between premastication and child length. However, given the cross-sectional nature of this study and potential unmeasured confounding factors, reverse causality or confounding cannot be ruled out. Longitudinal studies are needed to develop recommendations on premastication.