Abstract

AUGUSTO, Rosângela Aparecida  and  SOUZA, José Maria Pacheco de. Growth of children in exclusive breastfeeding in their first semester of life. Rev. bras. crescimento desenvolv. hum. [online]. 2007, vol.17, n.2, pp. 1-11. ISSN 0104-1282.

There are controversies about the growth of infants who are exclusively breastfed (EB) from three to six months of life, although the World Health Organization recommends that exclusive breastfeeding (EB) until the sixth month of life assures an adequate growth. OBJECTIVE: To measure the average velocity of daily increment in weight (VDIW) in the first two life quarters, according to the duration of EB, adjusted for other possible determinants of growth. METHODS: a cohort of 347 newborns in a university hospital of São Paulo was studied in the years of 1998 and 1999, using multiple linear regression, and applying hierarchical modeling. RESULTS: 17.5% of the children were EB at three months; 2.4% at six months. In the first quarter, among the girls, larger VDIW is related to larger duration of EB. For the boys, VDIW does not differ according to the duration of EB. Children's VDIW in the second quarter of age was not influenced by EB duration. CONCLUSIONS: EB assures adequate growth in the first two life quarters; the apparent alterations of the growth of children in EB should be evaluated with caution, in order to avoid the unnecessary introduction of complementary feeding.

Keywords : Growth; Children Nutrition; Breastfeeding; Linear Regression.

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