The introduction of complementary foods in children. Practical questions

Abstract

The article presents data characterizing the features and timing of the introduction of complementary foods to children of the first year of life living in the Belgorod region. The purpose of the study was to study the features of feeding children in the first year of life living in the Belgorod region, and to evaluate the success of the implementation of the “National Program for Optimizing the Feeding of Children in the First Year of Life” in pediatric practice. Methods. Subject to the principles of voluntariness and confidentiality, interviews were conducted with 348 women with young children (the first two years of life) born at 38-41 weeks of gestation with an Apgar score of at least 8 points. To conduct the study, a questionnaire was developed that allows retrospectively assessing the duration of breastfeeding and the timing of the introduction of complementary foods. Results. When assessing the nutrition of children in the first year of life, the following problems were identified: early termination of breastfeeding (before the child reaches the age of 3 months) - in 29.8% of cases, violation of the timing of the introduction of complementary foods (earlier than 4 months and later than 6 months - 22% children), the rules for the introduction of complementary foods (52.7%) and the range of selected products. The main source of information for young parents about complementary foods, the timing and methods of its introduction were: in 60.1% - medical workers, in 12.9% - the opinion and advice of relatives, friends and acquaintances, in 3.2% - the exchange of information with other parents with children of the same age, in 18.1% - information contained on the Internet. Research results. The results of the study show the need for further work on the active implementation of the existing recommendations in the practice of pediatricians, aimed at implementing the principles of breastfeeding support to increase the duration of lactation, on the timeliness of the introduction of complementary foods, the implementation of the rules for the introduction and selection of the range of introduced food products.