Table 1 Dimensions captured for quantitative analysis
Infant feeding | # of posts discussing infant feeding methods for infants by the influencers fitting the inclusion criteria: EBF for infants < 6 months, breastfeeding up to 36 months, complementary feeding, BMS use |
|---|---|
Crying | # of posts discussing BMS in relation to crying on the influencers’ handles |
Sleeping | # of posts discussing BMS in relation to sleeping on the influencers’ handles |
Ads | # of adverts by companies producing BMS on the selected influencers’ pages. Adverts are posts made by influencers on behalf of companies, and they usually get paid for the posts |
Sources | who was quoted in the posts as giving advice on infant feeding, e.g. categories of health care professionals, mother to mother, BMS producing companies’ representatives |
Slant | Attitudes towards breastfeeding or BMS of both original posts and follower responses: Pro-BMS, Pro-breastfeeding, neutral |
Violations Sponsorship | # of posts potentially violating R991 and the Code # of posts that an influencer was paid to share on their profile. These posts are identified through phrases such as “paid partnership with”, “#AD, #sponsored by” etc |
Type of BMS | BMS broken down by type, ie bottles/teats, gadgets for facilitating the use of BMS, pacifiers, complementary food marketed for infants younger than 6 months and baby formula |