Growth performance comparison of exclusively breastfed infants with partially breastfed and formula fed infants

BACKGROUND: Little consensus exists for growth performance of different feeding patterns in infancy. The objective of this study is to assess the growth performance of exclusively breastfed, partially breastfed and formula fed infants in China. METHODS: Data from a total of 109,052 infants aged 1-<12 months were collected from the 4th and 5th China National Surveys in 2005 and 2015. Feeding patterns were classified into three types for infants under 6 months of age: exclusive breastfeeding, partial breastfeeding and formula feeding. Exclusive breastfeeding refers to feeding exclusively from the mother’s own milk (bottle-feeding included). RESULTS: 34.0% and 43.9% of infants were exclusively breastfed and 41.5% and 36.3% were partially breastfed at 4-<6 months in 2005 and 2015 respectively. Exclusively breastfed infants were generally a little heavier than partially breastfed and formula fed infants aged 1-<6 months; however, there was not a significant statistical difference between continued breastfeeding and formula feeding infants aged 6-<12 months. No significant statistical difference for length was observed among the three groups for ages 1-<6 months; however, infants who were continued to be breastfed were a little shorter compared to those who were formula fed (ages 6-<12 months). For infants aged 1-<2 months there was not a substantial difference from the 2006 WHO growth standards; however, for infants aged 2-<12 months the average weight and length of different feeding infants in China were a little heavier and longer than the 2006 WHO growth standards. CONCLUSIONS: Partial breastfed and formula fed infants were a little lighter than exclusively breastfed infants in the first half of the first year. Formula fed infants were a little longer than continued breastfed infants in the second half.