Feeding in the first year of life and presence of overweight in infants and children in the early preschool age

Introduction - Growing phenomenon, which involves high morbidity and mortality and consequently high costs for health systems, the high prevalence of obesity has been found also among pediatric population and is currently considered a public health problem. Breastfeeding has been linked as a protective factor against the development of obesity in childhood. Objective - To assess the nutritional status of infants and children in early preschool age and examine the presence of excess weight and its relation to the duration of breastfeeding and age of introduction of other foods. Methods - Historical cohort study in which we collected anthropometric data (weight and height) of children 16-37 months of age in public preschools in the city of Taubaté- SP for the classification of nutritional status. Were also collected through a questionnaire answered by parents or guardians information about the children, such as birth weight and type of delivery, and the food in the first year of life: breastfeeding duration and age of introduction of milk not maternal, water and/or tea, fruit pope, pope of vegetables and of treats. The z-score of body mass index for age (zIMC/I) was considered the outcome variable. The analysis between the dependent variable and the independent variables were performed by statistical correlation methods and multiple variables. Results - The prevalence of children with overweight was 27.4 per cent . The mean duration of exclusive and full breastfeeding was 3 and 10 months, respectively. The variables sex, birth weight and total duration of breastfeeding were the ones that were shown to have some correlation, statistically significant, with BMI z score for age. Conclusions - The study population has a high prevalence of overweight. The high birth weight is a risk factor and the boys have a 7 lower risk of developing overweight at the start of pre- school age. The total duration of breastfeeding is a protective factor against early development of overweight.