P1182 INFANT FORMULAE FEEDING PATTERN AND WEANING INTRODUCTION IN SPANISH INFANTS

Abstract

Introduction: Breast milk is recognised as the best option for feeding infants during first months of life. WHO recomnends a duration of exclusive breastfeeding of six months and a total duration of breastfeeding of two years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mean duration of breastfeeding in Spain, the feeding pattern with infant formulae and the mean age on weaning introduction. Methods: A total of 926 mothers with infants from 1 to 4 years old took part in this survey. The questionnaire had a retrospective design and was divided in three major parts: Demographic variables, breastfeeding practices and age of introduction of different food during weaning period and semiquantitative dietary data of their younger infant. Food was categorized in the following groups: Cereals based products (infant cereals and bread), fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, dairy products (yogurt and cow milk), eggs and meat, fish and poultry. Mothers were recruited in nurseries and in routine paediatric examinations all around Spain. The mean age of mothers in the study was 33,7 ± 4,5 years and the mean age of infants 2,4 ± 0,9 years. In a 42,8% of cases mothers were primiparous and in a 47,2% they had 2 children or more. The study comprised 508 male and 419 female infants. Statistic analysis: ANOVA and correlation test were done using the computer program SPSS 11.0. A p-value of less than 0,05 was adopted as criteria of significance and 95% confidence intervals were used. Results: The mean duration of exclusive breastfeeding and total breastfeeding were 2,5 ± 2,1 and 3,8 ± 4,0, respectively, Only in 6,3% of infants exclusive breatsfeeding was maintained until 6 months of life and 32,2% of infants began to take infant formulae from the first day of life. Infant formulae were introduced at 2,4 ± 2,2 months and follow-on formulae at 6,7 ± 2,8 months. Weaning was introduced at 4,4 ± 1,3 months of life. At 4 months, 61,7 % of infants have introduced complementary feeding. The first food to be introduced were cereals (42,6%), fruits (22,4%) or cereals and fruits at the same time (26,2%). Exclusive and total breastfeeding were not related with any demographic variable. Exclusive and total breastfeeding, and infant formulae and follow-on formulae introduction were related with weaning introduction. Conclusion: 1)WHO recommendations about exclusive breastfeeding are only followed in a low percentage of Spanish infants. 2)Weaning introduction should be delayed. 3)It would be useful to inform mothers about the importance of extending exclusively and total breastfeeding and delaying weaning introduction.