Type of milk received and feeding difficulties in children of 12 to 36 months of life from two neighborhoods of Cordoba city

Abstract

Feeding difficulty is the perception, by the adult, when the child does not eat properly. The breastfeeding absence can be considered one of its causes. Formula feeding has a monotonous taste compared to breast milk, because this one allows the child to taste various flavors from the mother’s diet, making easier to introduce new foods after 6 months of life.

The objective was to analyze the relationship between the type of milk received and the prevalence of feeding difficulties in children from 12 to 36 months who assist at Arguello IPV and Ampliación
Ferreyra’s health centers, Cordoba, 2018.

This is a descriptive, observational, correlational and cross sectional study, in which children from 12 to 36 months who assisted at these health centers, were randomly selected. Children with case of severe or chronic diseases were excluded and admitted those whose caregivers signed a consent. This study was looking to relate their growing period, type of milk received, (in case of breastfeeding, its duration) presence of feeding difficulties and caregiver’s perception about child’s feeding. It was implemented a behavioral pediatrics feeding assessment (BPFAS) and two questions about type of milk received and in case the answer was breastfeeding, its duration. It was applied Infostat’s software for data analysis and Fisher Test for the association of variables.

The study had sixty participants. 17% of them had feeding difficulties and 80% of caregivers could perceive them. 10% were exclusively breastfed for 6 months, 40% less than 6 months, and 50% were fed by a mix of breast milk and formula and exclusively formula. 60% had a delay at finishing their food, 50% preferred drinks instead of eating, 40% never came easily to eat, and 30% refused to eat meal but requested food inmediately after the meal.

Most of the children with feeding difficulties didn’t breastfed the first 6 months of life. It was not observed statistically significant association between type of milk received and prevalence of feeding difficulties.