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The Participants: Women and Their Infants
Approximately 4,000 pregnant women from across the nation began their
participation in the Infant Feeding Practices Study II (IFPS II) between May
and December 2005. The success of the research depends upon a high level of
participation by the selected women over the course of 15 months. To
maximize participation rates, the study selected the sample from a national
consumer opinion panel consisting of 500,000 households from throughout the
United States. Women who regularly volunteer to participate in opinion
surveys are more likely to comply with the lengthy requirements of the IFPS
II than are women chosen randomly from the U.S. population.
While the study begins with 4,000 pregnant women, about 2,250 are expected
to qualify and continue their participation through their baby's first year.
To qualify, a healthy women must give birth to one healthy, full-term or
near-term infant weighing at least 5 pounds at birth.
With the exception of a brief telephone interview near the time of the
infant's birth, all data will be collected using mailed questionnaires. A
subset of women in the sample will be asked to complete a modified Diet
History Questionnaire prenatally and about 4 months postpartum, adapted from
one developed by the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of
Health. For comparison purposes, the same dietary information will be
collected from a sample of women of child-bearing age who are neither
pregnant nor post-partum.
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