1-Department of Pediatrics, Hospital de Dona Estefânia, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, EPE, Lisboa, Portugal
2- Department of Pediatrics, Hospital das Caldas da Rainha, Centro Hospitalar do Oeste Norte, Caldas da Rainha
3- Portugal & Family Medicine Department, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Universidade Nova Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
4- Epidemiology and Statistics Office of the Research Unit, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, Lisboa
Publicado no Jornal Português de Gastrenterologia em junho 2014
Merecedor do Editorial da revista redigido pelo Dr Jorge Amil
Resumo: Introduction: In 2008, ESPGHAN published a position paper on complementary feeding providing recommendations to health care professionals. Cultural and socio-economic factors might affect the compliance to these orientations. Aim: To estimate the prevalence of inadequacies during complementary feeding (ESPGHAN, 2008) and its association with different ethnic backgrounds. Methods: Cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of caretakers of children up to 24 months of age in a single community health centre in Greater Lisbon, through a volunteer, self-applied questionnaire. Results: From a sample of children with wide cultural diversity, 161 valid questionnaires were obtained (median child’s age 9 months, median mother’s age 32 years). The prevalence rate of at least one complementary feeding inadequacy was 46% (95%CI: 38.45---53.66). The commonest inadequacies were: avoiding lumpy solid foods after 10 months of age (66.7%), avoidance or delayed introduction of foods beyond 12 months (35.4%), introduction of gluten beyond 7 months (15.9%) or salt before 12 months (6.7%). For each increase of 1 month in the age of the child, the odds of inadequacies raised 36.7% (OR = 1.37; 95%CI: 1.20---1.56; p < 0.001). The odds for inadequacies in children of African or Brazilian offspring was three times higher that of Por-tuguese ancestry (OR = 3.31; 95%CI: 0.87---12.61; p = 0.079). The influence of grandparents was related to an increase in the odds of inadequacies (OR = 3.69; 95%CI: 0.96---14.18; p = 0.058).
Conclusion: Inadequacies during complementary feeding are frequent and may be influencedby the cultural background.
Palavras Chave: Alimentacão infantil; Diversificacão alimentar; Inadequacões; Cultura; Sociedade Europeia de Gastrenterologia-Hepatologia e Nutrição Pediátrica