Associação entre o consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados e a prática de aleitamento materno em crianças de 6 a 24 meses beneficiárias do programa bolsa família em Alagoas

Abstract

An adequate and healthy eating in the first years of life guarantees growth, development and child health, and it has repercussions throughout life, contributing to the realization of the human right to food and health. Breastfeeding is the isolated intervention with the greatest ability to prevent deaths in children under 5 years of age. In turn, complementary feeding is the third most effective action, with the potential to prevent 6% of deaths in children under 5 years old. Despite the recognized benefits of breastfeeding, rates of early initiation of breastfeeding among children under 5 months of age remain below 50% in most middle- and low-income countries. In the face of such evidence, Brazil adopts international recommendations, advocating exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) until the sixth month and the continuity of breastfeeding until the second year of life or more. The transition from EBF to the introduction of food consumed by the family is the period called complementary feeding, which should start at 6 months of age and be concluded at 24 months, which represents a period of great vulnerability for children's nutrition and health. This period is recognized for its importance in the formation of healthy eating habits in order to protect the child from nutritional deficiencies, and that is why it is recommended to offer fresh and minimally processed foods, avoiding ultra-processed foods (UP). However, food choices are influenced by several factors such as the socioeconomic and demographic situation that will converge for family food security (FS). In order to fight hunger and poverty, the Brazilian government has implemented the Bolsa Família Program (PBF) since 2004, which aims to promote access to public services, such as health, education and the social assistance network, and also promote food and nutrition security (FNS). The present study aimed to research the association between the consumption of UP and the practice of breastfeeding in children aged 6 to 24 months benefiting from the PBF in Alagoas. A cross-sectional study was carried out with children aged 6 to 24 months who were beneficiaries of the PBF and residents of the 6 municipalities participating in the Early Childhood Program of the State of Alagoas, located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. The consumption of UP and the practice of breastfeeding were evaluated using the questionnaire to assess eating habits of children under two years of age, adapting the questionnaire to regional foods. Prevalence Ratios (PR) and Confidence Intervals (CI) were performed using hierarchical Poisson regression, adjusted at the last (5th) level by socioeconomic, demographic and environmental variables. 1,604 children participated in the study, 11.7% of whom were overweight and most had consumed UP (90.6%) in the last 24 hours. Through multivariate analysis it was found that the consumption tof UP was lower among those children who were being breastfed aged 12 to 15 months (PR 0.93 95% CI 0.88-0.99), and those aged 20 to 24 months (RP 0.91 95% CI 0.86-0.96). Thus, we conclude that continued breastfeeding is associated with lower consumption of UP.