Breastfeeding and supplementary nutrition for children at two kindergartens in Maringá-PR

Abstract

Studies have made evident breastfeeding’s fundamental role as protection against infections. Prolonged breastfeeding, however, may affect negatively the child’s nutrition condition and her weight gain. The current research had as objective the evaluation of children who were taken care at two kindergartens in Maringá PR Brazil, verifying the types of food introduced to these children and their weaning age. Sixty-five and sixty-one children from kindergartens 1 and 2 respectively were studied. It was observed that 7.8% and 4,9% of the children showed low weight on birth (LWB) at both kindergartens and that 20% of them hadn’t been breastfed at the two kindergartens. It comes to the conclusion that most mothers need more effective and instructions and more incisive practices so that the children might be breastfed, preventing the child’s health worsening which prevails on this age group.