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Table 1 Association between sociodemographic factors and very early introduction of solid foods (< 17 weeks) (n = 934)

From: Determinants for early introduction of complementary foods in Australian infants: findings from the HSHK birth cohort study

Variable

Solids introduceda

Solids introduceda

Univariate odds ratiob

< 17 weeks

≥17 weeks

N (%)

N (%)

OR

CI95

Maternal age (years)

  < 25

30 (32.6)

62 (67.4)

1.00

 

 25–29

36 (14.1)

219 (85.9)

0.34***

0.19, 0.60

 30–34

44 (12.5)

307 (87.5)

0.30***

0.17, 0.51

  ≥ 35

17 (7.2)

219 (92.8)

0.16***

0.08, 0.31

Maternal education

  < Year 12

33 (23.4)

108 (76.6)

1.00

 

 Year 12 completed

36 (17.3)

172 (82.7)

0.69

0.40, 1.16

 College/TAFE

23 (12.9)

155 (87.1)

0.49*

0.27, 0.87

 University

35 (8.6)

372 (91.4)

0.31***

0.18, 0.52

Marital Status

 Married

79 (10.8)

655 (89.2)

1.00

 

 Living with a partner/ De facto

18 (16.4)

92 (83.6)

1.62

0.93, 2.83

 Single Mother

30 (33.3)

60 (66.7)

4.15***

2.52, 6.81

Mother’s country of birth

 Australia

77 (17.7)

359 (82.3)

1.00

 

 China

3 (5.4)

53 (94.6)

0.26*

0.80, 0.87

 Vietnam

12 (9.1)

120 (90.9)

0.47*

0.25, 0.89

 Asia Other

6 (5.5)

104 (94.5)

0.27**

0.11, 0.64

 Middle-East/ Africa

9 (11.1)

72 (88.9)

0.58

0.28, 1.22

 Others

20 (16.9)

98 (83.1)

0.95

0.55, 1.63

Partner’s country of birth

 Australia

59 (16.4)

300 (83.6)

1.00

 

 China

2 (4.8)

40 (95.2)

0.25

0.06, 1.08

 Vietnam

8 (7.0)

107 (93.0)

0.38*

0.18, 0.82

 Asia Other

7 (6.7)

98 (93.3)

0.36*

0.16, 0.82

 Middle-East/ Africa

12 (12.5)

84 (87.5)

0.73

0.37, 1.41

 Others

12 (10.0)

108 (90.0)

0.57

0.29, 1.09

Mother’s occupation

 Home duties/ student

32 (18.8)

138 (81.2)

1.00

 

 Unskilled

22 (13.0)

147 (87.0)

0.65

0.36, 1.17

 Sales/Clerical

43 (14.7)

250 (85.3)

0.74

0.45, 1.23

 Managers

9 (14.8)

52 (85.2)

0.75

0.33, 1.67

 Professionals

21 (8.7)

220 (91.3)

0.41**

0.23, 0.74

Mother’s employment status

 Not working at 12 months

71 (14.5)

420 (85.5)

1.00

 

 Return to work < 6 months

33 (17.6)

155 (82.4)

1.26

0.80, 1.98

 Return to work 6–12 months

18 (8.1)

203 (91.9)

0.53

0.31, 0.90

Index for Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage

 Least Disadvantaged

6 (12.0)

44 (88.0)

1.00

 

 2nd Quintile

36 (15.1)

202 (84.9)

1.31

0.52, 3.29

 3rd Quintile

7 (8.8)

73 (91.3)

0.70

0.22, 2.23

 4th Quintile

19 (10.4)

164 (89.6)

0.85

0.32, 2.25

 Most Disadvantaged

59 (15.4)

324 (84.6)

1.34

0.55, 3.28

  1. a The total of the categories do not always add up to 934 due to missing or incomplete data for some items
  2. b The univariate odds ratio indicates the likelihood of early introduction of solid foods
  3. OR odds ratio, CI95−95% confidence interval
  4. * p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.001