Relação entre baixo peso ao nascer e tempo de aleitamento materno com o estado nutricional de crianças atendidas pela estratégia de saúde da família

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between birth weight, duration of breastfeeding and nutritional status of children aged 6 to 59 months served in the Family Health Strategy in the city of Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais. Cross- sectional study with 196 children of both genders registered in 10 of the Family Health Strategy. A structured questionnaire about socioeconomic conditions of life and health of parents and children was applied, anthropometric assessment was performed by weight/age and height/age indicators. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Chi-Square, Pearson and Spearman correlation test were used to analyze the association between the variables, adopting a significance level of 5% (p <0.05). Most mothers (86.6%) reported have breastfed their children, with the median duration of breastfeeding being 10.9 months (SD = 8.6). The children evaluated had an average birth weight of 3,295.2 grams (SD = 501.7), where 71.4% were born with adequate weight, 6.8% low weight and 21.8% high weight and 9.4 % premature. It was found that the greatest duration of breastfeeding was significantly associated with lower mean age of the child, the male and the current weight to the child's age. Birth weight was significantly associated with current weight (r = 0.17; p = 0.02) but not with current height (r = 0.10; p = 0.16). Breastfeeding acts as an important protection for child malnutrition, it is allowed to remain in the exclusive or wrong form and should be encouraged its practice.