Background and aims: The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and continued breastfeeding supplemented with complementary feeding thereafter, until 2 years of age. We provide preliminary data on (breast)feeding practices between 0-6 months of Singaporean infants enrolled in an intervention study.

Methods: At birth, infants were enrolled in the VENUS study (clinical register number NCT01609634). When parents autonomously decided to introduce infant formula, either partially or fully, their infants were randomised to one of three intervention formulas. Age at breastfeeding cessation, formula and complementary food introduction and maternal motivation for breastfeeding cessation were recorded.

Results: Demographic and feeding characteristics were not apparently different between intervention groups, allowing overall cohort analysis. Feeding characteristics of 520 healthy infants (52% male; 63% Chinese, 29% Malay, 8% other ethnicities) were analysed. Only 19% of infants were fully breastfed at 6 months of age, of which 51% received complementary feeding. Although in 73% of the infants formula was already introduced within the first month, 45% was still, either fully or partially, breastfed at 6 months (Figure 1). Irrespective of infant’s age, the main reason to stop breastfeeding was the mother’s perception of insufficient breast milk supply.

Conclusions: In this cohort, only a small percentage of infants met the WHO breastfeeding recommendations. This confirms previous findings by others that partial breastfeeding together with formula and complementary foods up to 6 months of age seems to be common in Singapore.

INFANT FEEDING PRACTICES DURING THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF LIFE IN SINGAPORE: INSIGHTS FROM THE VENUS STUDY