Supplementary feeding of infants in a developed city within the context of a developing country

Objective. To establish the timing for introducing supplementary foods in the diet of infants from the city of Campinas, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Methods. This cross-sectional study included 2 857 children younger than 2 years of age randomly selected from the city department of health live birth database between 2004 and 2005. The mothers answered a questionnaire that included 87 closed questions designed to collect information concerning socioeconomic status, breastfeeding, and timing of introduction of supplementary foods. Results. Assessment of the mothers revealed that 13.5% were adolescents, 73.1% had completed elementary or high school education, 45.9% had technical level jobs, 6,7% had jobs requiring a university degree, and 2.7% were health professionals. On average, participants belonged to socioeconomic class C (ranging from A, highest, to E, lowest), but all socioeconomic classes were represented. The median duration of exclusive breastfeeding was 90 days (95% CI: 87.6-92.4). Water (95% CI: 118.6-121.4) and tea (95CI%: 113.2-126.8) were introduced at a median of 120 days. Semi-solid foods (95% CI: 178.6-181,4) and powdered milk (95% CI: 169.0-191.0) were introduced at a median of 180 days. Powdered milk and soft drinks had been ingested by 39.1% and 2.1%, respectively, at 4 months, and by 63.2 and 69.1%, respectively, at 1 year of age. Shorter breastfeeding duration was observed for women with technical level jobs, those who were unemployed, and those without a partner. Conclusions. The median duration of exclusive breastfeeding was far from that recommended due to the offer of supplementary fluids. Supplementary foods were introduced precociously, especially sweets.