Prevalência de aleitamento materno e introdução alimentar precoce em pré-escolares

Abstract

Identify the prevalence of breastfeeding and early food introduction in children from zero to five years old from a school municipal educational Itaqui/RS. Cross-sectional study with individual sampling and data collection through the application of a questionnaire with questions concerning sociodemographic characteristics, the introduction of complementary feeding, with questions relating to age in months in which food and frequency of food consumption to mothers or guardians of children were introduced. We evaluated 75 children with a mean age of 2 years, and the sample of 50.7% male. In the studied population, a prevalence of 42.4% of exclusive breastfeeding until six months of age and 65.3% of children were observed received early complementary feeding. The main foods offered early were water (62.7%), fruit (20.0%) and processed food (cookies 9.3%). The data obtained in this study suggest the need to implement intervention measures in health services, in order to encourage mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding and guidance on the consequences of early food introduction.