Abstract

SIMON, Viviane Gabriela Nascimento; SOUZA, José Maria Pacheco de; LEONE, Cláudio  and  SOUZA, Sonia Buongermino de. Practice and duration of breastfeeding of children registered in private schools in São Paulo, SP. Rev. bras. crescimento desenvolv. hum. [online]. 2009, vol.19, n.3, pp. 403-411. ISSN 0104-1282.

The present study describes the practice of breast feeding and verifies possible associated factors with the duration of breast feeding in children from private schools of the city of São Paulo. The study was made with 566 children from 2 to 6 years of age. For the dependent variable, it was considered the duration of breast feeding (exclusive breast feeding and breast feeding), and as the independent variables maternal age and schooling, mother working condition, and sex of the child. The characterization of the sample is presented through frequency distributions. The variable breast feeding was described in categories, and for the analysis was used as a continuous variable. For the analysis of the relationship of breast feeding and the independent variables, the multiple regression techniques of Cox were used adopting p < 0.05 criterion for the decision significance. There was no association between the studied variables and the two forms of breast feeding. Approximately, 80% of children are no longer breast fed exclusively before six months of life, which shows the need to continue the development of actions to encourage and support breast feeding.

Keywords : exclusive breast feeding; pre-school; breast feeding; weaning.

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