Práticas de alimentação complementar vivenciadas por crianças de 6 meses a 2 anos de idade.

Abstract

MAIN PURPOSE: To verify children’s food practices aged in a range from six months to two years old and their association with both sociodemographic and economic maternal variables. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study involving mothers who had children between the ages of six months to two years in a maternal and child health service in Vera Cruz, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on September 2018. Data on dietary intake, breastfeeding and both demographic and economic maternal aspects were questioned. Descriptive statistics have been performed while the chi-square test was used. RESULTS: Twenty-four mothers, aged 27, 96 ± 6.59, and children with 13.67 ± 5.58 months have participated. The most prevalent maternal schooling resulted in incomplete high school (61.7%), while the predominant family income was 1 to 3 wages (45.8%). It has been found that 50% of the children breastfed - with an average duration of 8.67 ± 7.91 months. The introduction of complementary feeding occurred, on average, within 4.54 ± 1.35 months. There was consumption of basic foods (beans, meat, vegetables, fruit) by the vast majority of the children involved, and a lower consumption of industrialized ones, considering biscuits with no cream the most consumed (91.7%). The use of infant formulas, associated with breast milk or not, comprehended 66.66% of the mothers involved, and there was, then, a connection with a higher level of education (p = 0.031, p = 0.037). CONCLUSION: There was an early introduction of complementary feeding; the duration of breastfeeding was found lower than the recommended one. When it comes to feeding, we observed a larger presence of basic foods, and a smaller presence of industrialized ones. There was, then, an association between schooling and consumption of infant formulas and sugarless natural juice.