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Retraction and Republication: Timing of Introduction of Complementary Foods — United States, 2016–2018
Weekly / July 28, 2023 / 72(30);835
On November 27, 2020, MMWR published “Timing of Introduction of Complementary Foods — United States, 2016–2018” (1), which was based on data from the National Survey of Children’s Health. On April 4, 2023, the National Survey of Children’s Health released a technical document describing a processing error that occurred for data released between 2016 and 2021 (2). This processing error caused the reported time in months for breastfeeding, age of first formula, and introduction of solid foods to be incorrectly rounded down by 1 in most cases. Updated data files were released in conjunction with the technical document. MMWR was notified about this processing error on May 25, 2023. After discussion with the authors on June 16, MMWR published an Expression of Concern on June 30 (3), per International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and National Library of Medicine best practices (4,5).
The authors reanalyzed the updated data files and found that the results and interpretations changed from the original report. Therefore, the original report is retracted. In accordance with December 2017 guidance from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (4), MMWR is republishing the report (6). The republished report includes the original, retracted report with clearly marked corrections as supplementary materials.
References
- Chiang KV, Hamner HC, Li R, Perrine CG. Timing of introduction of complementary foods—United States, 2016–2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:1787–91. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6947a4 PMID:33237894
- US Census Bureau. National Survey of Children’s Health: data revision for breastfeeding, formula and solid foods variables. Suitland, MD: US Department of Commerce, US Census Bureau; 2023. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nsch/technical-documentation/Data_Correction_for_BREASTFEDEND_FRSTFORMULA_and_FRSTSOLIDS.pdf
- Expression of concern: timing of introduction of complementary foods—United States, 2016–2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:736. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7226a8 PMID:37384568
- International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Corrections, retractions, republications and version control. Vancouver, Canada: International Committee of Medical Journal Editors; 2017. https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/corrections-and-version-control.html
- National Library of Medicine. Errata, retractions, and other linked citations in PubMed. Bethesda, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine; 2018. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/policy/errata.html
- Chiang KV, Hamner HC, Li R, Perrine CG. Timing of introduction of complementary foods—United States, 2016–2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;69:1969–74. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6953a1.htm?s_cid=mm6953a1_w. Corrected and republished from: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:1787–91. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6947a4.htm?s_cid=mm6947a4_w https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6947a4
Suggested citation for this article: Retraction and Republication: Timing of Introduction of Complementary Foods — United States, 2016–2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:835. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7230a6.
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