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Cross-sectional Analysis of Infant Diet, Outcomes, Consumer Behavior and Parental Perspectives to Optimize Infant Feeding in Response to the 2022 U.S. Infant Formula Shortage
Damian-Medina, K.; Cernioglo, K.; Waheed, M.; DiMaggio, D.M.; Porto, A.F.; Smilowitz, J.T. Cross-Sectional Analysis of Infant Diet, Outcomes, Consumer Behavior and Parental Perspectives to Optimize Infant Feeding in Response to the 2022 U.S. Infant Formula Shortage. Nutrients2024, 16, 748.
Damian-Medina, K.; Cernioglo, K.; Waheed, M.; DiMaggio, D.M.; Porto, A.F.; Smilowitz, J.T. Cross-Sectional Analysis of Infant Diet, Outcomes, Consumer Behavior and Parental Perspectives to Optimize Infant Feeding in Response to the 2022 U.S. Infant Formula Shortage. Nutrients 2024, 16, 748.
Damian-Medina, K.; Cernioglo, K.; Waheed, M.; DiMaggio, D.M.; Porto, A.F.; Smilowitz, J.T. Cross-Sectional Analysis of Infant Diet, Outcomes, Consumer Behavior and Parental Perspectives to Optimize Infant Feeding in Response to the 2022 U.S. Infant Formula Shortage. Nutrients2024, 16, 748.
Damian-Medina, K.; Cernioglo, K.; Waheed, M.; DiMaggio, D.M.; Porto, A.F.; Smilowitz, J.T. Cross-Sectional Analysis of Infant Diet, Outcomes, Consumer Behavior and Parental Perspectives to Optimize Infant Feeding in Response to the 2022 U.S. Infant Formula Shortage. Nutrients 2024, 16, 748.
Abstract
In May of 2022, millions of U.S. parents faced uncertainty in safely feeding their infants due to the infant formula shortage. Methods: An anonymous, electronic, cross-sectional, retrospective survey was used. Results: U.S. parents (n =187) whose infants were 10.2 weeks old during the short-age completed the survey. Eighty-one percent of parents switched formulas during the shortage, 87% switched because they could not find the formula they typically used, 34% switched 3-5 times, 29% of parents visited ≥ 4 stores/24 hours and 26% of parents traveled >20 miles/24 hours to purchase formula. Use of infant formula increased (p< 0.01); in infants requiring specialty for-mula, use of intact cow’s milk formula increased (p < 0.05) and use of premature infant formulas decreased (p < 0.05). Infants relying on specialty formulas experienced at least one undesirable outcome compared with non-specialty users. Parents used social media, relatives/friends, and healthcare providers for support during the shortage, but their helpfulness scores were suboptimal. Parents reported needs for greater infant formula availability, free prenatal lactation education and postpartum lactation support. Conclusions: Government, regulatory and healthcare policy oversight are needed to protect the infant feeding system, including more commercially available products, access to banked donor milk and lactation support.
Keywords
Keywords: Breastfeeding; consumer behavior; equity; feeding practices; food security; health, government and regulatory policies; infant formula shortage; lactation; pediatrics
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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