Early Infant Feeding Practices as Possible Risk Factors for Immunoglobulin E-Mediated Food Allergies in Kuwait
Table 1
Characteristics in FA cases versus controls in the total sample and within age categories.
Characteristics
Categories
Total ()
Age Categories, (%)
Less than 2 years old, 105 (52.5)
2–5 years old, 65 (32.5)
>5 years old, 30 (15)
FA
Control
FA 37 (35.2)
Control 68 (64.8)
FA 39 (60)
Control 26 (40)
FA 24 (80)
Control 6 (20)
Gender
Male
67 (54.9)
55 (45.1)
23 (36.5)
40 (63.5)
26 (68.4)
12 (31.6)
18 (85.7)
3 (14.3)
Female
33 (42.3)
45 (57.7)
14 (33.3)
28 (66.7)
13 (48.1)
14 (51.9)
6 (66.7)
3 (33.3)
Nationality
Kuwaiti
48 (45.7)
57 (54.3)
19 (32.8)
39 (67.2)
17 (53.1)
15 (46.9)
12 (80)
3 (20)
Expats
52 (54.7)
43 (4.3)
18 (38.3)
29 (61.7)
22 (66.7)
11 (33.3)
12 (80)
3 (20)
Season of Birth
Dec-Feb
28 (63.4)
16 (36.4)
9 (45.0)
11 (55.0)
11 (84.6)
2 (15.4)
8 (72.7)
3 (27.3)
Mar-May
23 (52.3)
21 (47.7)
13 (52)
12 (48)
6 (42.9)
8 (57.1)
4 (80)
1 (20)
Jun-Aug
33 (45.8)
39 (54.2)
11 (27.5)
29 (72.5)
14 (60.9)
9 (39.1)
8 (88.9)
1 (11.1)
Sept-Nov
16 (41)
23 (59)
4 (20.0)
16 (80.0)
8 (57.1)
6 (42.9)
4 (80)
1 (20)
Gestational age
Full-term
85 (52.2)
77 (47.5)
29 (33.7)
57 (66.3)
29 (55.8)
23 (44.2)
19 (79.2)
5 (20.8)
Preterm
14 (70)
6 (30)
4 (40.0)
6 (60.0)
8 (100)
0
2 (100)
0
Family income
≤1000 KD
37 (49.3)
38 (50.7)
12 (31.6)
26 (68.4)
15 (62.5)
9 (37.5)
10 (76.9)
3 (23.1)
>1000 KD
55 (47.8)
60 (52.2)
19 (32.2)
40 (67.8)
22 (56.4)
17 (43.6)
14 (82.4)
3 (17.6)
Maternal age
<25 yrs
20 (46.5)
23 (53.5)
5 (26.3)
14 (73.7)
11 (64.7)
6 (35.3)
4 (57.1)
3 (42.9)
≥25 yrs
78 (50.3)
77 (49.7)
32 (37.2)
54 (62.8)
28 (58.3)
20 (41.7)
18 (85.7)
3 (14.3)
Maternal BMI
Underweight
6 (60)
4 (40)
1 (20)
4 (80)
3 (100)
0
2 (100)
0
Normal
46 (54.8)
38 (45.2)
15 (36.6)
26 (63.4)
21 (70)
9 (30)
10 (76.9)
3 (23.1)
≥Overweight
30 (38.5)
48 (61.5)
16 (34.8)
30 (65.2)
9 (37.5)
15 (62.5)
5 (62.5)
3 (37.5)
Birth Weight
<2.5 kg
13 (59.1)
9 (40.9)
4 (33.3)
8 (66.7)
7 (100)
0
2 (66.7)
1 (33.3)
=>2.5 kg
76 (45.5)
91 (54.4)
30 (33.3)
60 (66.7)
28 (51.9)
26 (48.1)
18 (78.3)
5 (21.7)
Weight for age, Z-scores
Thinness, <−2SD
5 (50)
5 (50)
2 (40)
3 (60)
2 (50)
2 (50)
1 (100)
0
Normal, −2 to +2SD
75 (46.9)
85 (53.1)
26 (30.6)
59 (69.4)
33 (60)
22 (40)
16 (80)
4 (20)
Overweight, >+2SD
14 (58.3)
10 (41.7)
9 (60)
6 (40)
4 (66.7)
2 (33.3)
1 (33.3)
2 (66.7)
Length or stature for age, Z-scores
Low, <−2SD
11 (64.7)
6 (35.3)
2 (33.3)
4 (66.7)
8 (80)
2 (20)
1 (100)
0
Normal, >+2SD
71 (46.7)
81 (53.3)
20 (25.6)
58 (74.4)
29 (61.7)
18 (38.3)
22 (81.5)
5 (18.5)
High, >+2SD
18 (58.1)
13 (41.9)
15 (71.4)
6 (28.6)
2 (25)
6 (75)
1 (50)
1 (50)
BMI for age, Z-scores
Thinness, <−2SD
8 (42.1)
11 (57.9)
6 (54.5)
5 (45.5)
2 (28.6)
5 (71.4)
0
1
Normal, −2 to +2SD
75 (48.4)
89 (51.6)
26 (31.3)
57 (68.7)
28 (59.6)
19 (40.4)
21 (84)
4 (16)
Overweight, >+2SD
17 (65.4)
9 (34.6)
5 (45.5)
6 (54.5)
9 (81.8)
2 (18.2)
3 (75)
1 (25)
Values are presented as number, , and percent (%). Each subscript letter denotes a subset of FA cases versus controls characteristics categories whose column proportions do not differ significantly from each other at 0.05 level; % characteristics categories compared between FA cases and controls. Chi-square statistics are as follows: for the gestational age [2–5-year age category], (1), ; maternal BMI [2–5-year age category], (2), .
