Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2025 Jul 4;25(1):723.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-025-07859-8.

Maternal anxiety during solid food introduction: insights from a comparative feeding practices study

Myriam Tabangi  1 , Rachel Abdo  1   2 , Mehmet Akif Karaman  3 , Roula Barake  4 , Sahar Nakhl  5
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Maternal anxiety during solid food introduction: insights from a comparative feeding practices study

Myriam Tabangi et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: The introduction of solid foods to infants involves various feeding techniques other than traditional weaning (TW), such as baby-led weaning (BLW), and combination weaning (CW). While these methods are often studied for their nutritional implications, their impact on maternal mental health, particularly generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), remains understudied.

Research aim: This study aimed to explore the association between feeding practices (BLW, TW, and CW) and maternal GAD levels during the initial stages of solid food introduction.

Design: This study recruited mothers and their infants, categorizing them into three groups based on feeding practices: BLW, TW, and CW. Maternal GAD levels were assessed at regular intervals over a six-month period, allowing for the examination of any changes in anxiety levels associated with different feeding techniques. Additionally, maternal perceptions of BLW were compared between BLW and CW users to further contextualize anxiety levels.

Results: Our findings indicate that mothers practicing BLW experienced significantly greater levels of GAD across all six months than those using TW or CW. Compared with mothers in the TW (8.1 ± 3.3) and CW (8.3 ± 2.0) groups, mothers in the BLW group had the highest cumulative anxiety score (15.3 ± 1.7).

Conclusions: The results of our study revealed a persistent presence of GAD throughout the 6-month study period, with consistently higher levels observed among mothers who chose BLW compared to those who used other feeding methods. These findings highlight the need for healthcare providers to offer targeted support and guidance to mothers using baby-led weaning, helping to ease anxiety and improve feeding outcomes.

Keywords: Baby-led weaning; Combination weaning; Feeding practices; Generalized anxiety disorder; Traditional weaning.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Lebanese University – Faculty of Public Health, on 19 September 2021. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Participant flow diagram from eligibility screening through final analysis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Martín-Rodríguez A, Bustamante-Sánchez Á, Martínez-Guardado I, Navarro-Jiménez E, Plata-SanJuan E, Tornero-Aguilera JF, et al. Infancy dietary patterns, development, and health: an extensive narrative review. Child (Basel). 2022;9:1072. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cohen Kadosh K, Muhardi L, Parikh P, Basso M, Jan Mohamed HJ, Prawitasari T, et al. Nutritional support of neurodevelopment and cognitive function in infants and young children—an update and novel insights. Nutrients. 2021;13:199. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Breastfeeding. https://www.who.int/health-topics/breastfeeding. Accessed 21 May 2025.
    1. Complementary feeding. https://www.who.int/health-topics/complementary-feeding. Accessed 21 May 2025.
    1. Folayan MO, Oginni AB, El Tantawi M, Adeniyi A, Alade M, Finlayson TL. Association between maternal decision-making and mental health and the nutritional status of children under 6 years of age in sub-urban Nigeria. BMC Public Health. 2023;23:1159. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types