ArticleBMC pediatrics2018
Infant formula feeding practices and the role of advice and support: an exploratory qualitative study.
Article in BMC pediatrics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrative Review of Mental Health and Feeding Styles in Parents of Bottle-Fed Infants.Journal of obstetric, gynecologic, and neonatal nursing : JOGNN · 2023Pooled it
- Guilt, shame, and postpartum infant feeding outcomes: A systematic review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Addressing obesity in the first 1000 days in high risk infants: Systematic review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Factors Associated With Prelacteal Feeding of Commercial Milk Formula: An Analysis of Cohort Data From the BADUTA Study in Indonesia.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Trial
- Identifying the training needs of Australian primary health professionals to support early childhood obesity prevention: a mixed methods study.Primary health care research & development · 2026Article
- Navigating Without a Compass: A Qualitative Study on Parents' Infant Formula Handling.Food science & nutrition · 2026Article
- Healthcare professionals' perspectives on commercial milk formula marketing in the UK: a qualitative study.Archives of disease in childhood · 2025Article
- Breastfeeding and Early Infant Feeding Practices Among Women in the Hunter New England Region of New South Wales, Australia: A Cross Sectional Study.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2025Article
- Mapping mixed milk feeding practice and its spatial predictors among children aged 0-6 months in Ethiopia: a geographically weighted regression analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Responsive feeding practices among Arabic and Mongolian speaking migrant mothers in Australia: A qualitative study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Article
- Psychosocial predictors of post-natal anxiety and depression: Using Structural Equation Modelling to investigate the relationship between pressure to breastfeed, health care professional support, post-natal guilt and shame, and post-natal anxiety and depression within an infant feeding context.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Development of an Individualized Responsive Feeding Intervention-Learning Early Infant Feeding Cues: Protocol for a Nonrandomized Study.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- Formula Feeding Practice and Associated Factors Among Mothers Who Visited Health Facilities for Their Infants Aged Below 6 Months in Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020.International journal of general medicine · 2023Article
- The Baby Bites Text Messaging Project with randomized controlled trial: texting to improve infant feeding practices.mHealth · 2023Article
- Some Japanese mothers do not follow package instructions of infant formula: a web-based analytical cross-sectional study.BMC nutrition · 2022Article
- Experiences of young Australian mothers with infant feeding.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Article
- Well-Informed and Willing, but Breastfeeding Does Not Work: A Qualitative Study on Perceived Support from Health Professionals among German Mothers with Breastfeeding Problems.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Comprehensiveness of infant formula and bottle feeding resources: A review of information from Australian healthcare organisations.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Review
- Burden of Early Life Obesity and Its Relationship with Protein Intake in Infancy: The Middle East Expert Consensus.Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInfant formula feeding practices are an important consideration for obesity prevention. An infant's diet is influential on their later risk of developing overweight or obesity, yet very little is known about infant formula feeding practices. It is plausible that certain modifiable practices may put children at higher risk of developing overweight or obesity, for example how much and how often a baby is fed. Understanding how parents use infant formula and what factors may influence this practice is therefore important. Moreover, parents who feed their infants formula have identified a lack of support and access to resources to guide them. Therefore this study aimed to explore parents' infant formula feeding practices to understand how parents use infant formula and what factors may influence this practice.
methodsUsing an explorative qualitative design, data were collected using semi-structured telephone interviews and analysed using a pragmatic inductive approach to thematic analysis.
resultsA total of 24 mothers from across Australia were interviewed. Mothers are influenced by a number of factors in relation to their infant formula feeding practice. These factors include information on the formula tin and marketing from formula manufacturers, particularly in relation to choosing the type of formula. Their formula feeding practices are also influenced by their interpretation of infant cues, and the amount of formula in the bottle. Many mothers would like more information to aid their practices but barriers exist to accessing health professional advice and support, so mothers may rely on informal sources. Some women reported that the social environment surrounding infant feeding wherein breastfeeding is promoted as the best option leads a feeling of stigma when formula feeding.
conclusionsAdditional support for parents' feeding their infants with formula is necessary. Health professionals and policy around infant formula use should include how formula information may be provided to parents who use formula in ways that do not undermine breastfeeding promotion. Further observational research should seek to understand the interaction between advice, interpretation of cues and the amount formula fed to infants.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.