Infant feeding in two rural Brazilian communities

Abstract

The feeding practices of 76 infants in two rural communities in Piracicaba, a city in the state of São Paulo, were analyzed. Home interviews were conducted using 24‐hour dietary recall, as well as some questions about the attitudes of mothers in relation to feeding. Diets were found to be deficient in both of the communities, especially in terms of food energy, iron and niacin, with greater diversity in the diet of families of higher per‐capita income. In both of the communities, quality was the factor considered most important in the purchase of food, although in the poorer neighborhood, the product yield was also important. Commercial baby foods were never used in the suburb of Santa Olimpia, due to a lack of confidence of the mothers in relation to such products, and in the suburb of Anhumas, price was the limiting factor. All mothers presented a reasonable knowledge of nutritional information.