COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING INDICATORS FOR CHILDREN AGED 6 TO 23 MONTHS ACCORDING TO BREASTFEEDING STATUS

• Published in: Revista Paulista de Pediatria Vol. 39; p. e2019408
• Main Authors: Leonez, Daniella Garcia Vidal Rodrigues, Melhem, Angélica Rocha de Freitas, Vieira, Daniele Gonçalves, Mello, Débora Falleiros de, Saldan, Paula Chuproski
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Sociedade de Pediatria de São Paulo 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Brazil; Breast feeding; Breast Feeding - statistics & numerical data; Child, Preschool; Cross-Sectional Studies; Eating; Female; Humans; Indicators; Infant; Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - physiology; Male; Nutritional Status; Original; Brazil
• ISSN: 0103-0582; 1984-0462
• DOI: 10.1590/1984-0462/2021/39/2019408

To verify if there are differences among the complementary feeding indicators of children aged 6-23 months according to the breastfeeding status. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 1,355 children aged 6-23 months in 2012 to evaluate five indicators proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and modified in accordance with Brazilian's recommendations "Ten steps to a healthy feeding: a feeding guide for children under two years old". The indicators used were: I. Introduction of solid, semi-solid or soft foods; II. Minimum dietary diversity; III. Minimum meal frequency; IV. Minimum acceptable diet, and V. Consumption of iron-rich foods. To verify differences between the complementary feeding indicators according to breastfeeding status, the F-statistic was used, with p≤0.05 meaning significant. Indicators I, II, and V were similar among breastfed and non-breastfed children; however, indicators III and IV presented a higher proportion of adequacy for non-breastfed children, with 94.9% (CI95% 93.2-96.2) versus 40.3% (CI95% 33.2-47.9) for indicator III, and 57.3% (CI95% 53.2-61.2) versus 23.1% (CI95% 17.4-30.1) for indicator IV. Non-breastfed children have better complementary feeding status, but the indicator III takes into account non-breast milk as a meal for non-breastfed children, which increased the number of dairy meals and influenced indicator IV (calculated from indicators II and III).