2005, Number 2
Lactation Type Linked with Growth Pattern, Respiratory Infection Frequency, and Acute Diarrhea Disease
Espinoza-Zavala R, Ocampo-Barrio P, Quiroz-Pérez J.
Full text
Language: Spanish
References: 11
Page: 49-53
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ABSTRACT
Objective: We sought to compare growth pattern, acute respiratory infection (ARI) frequency, and acute diarrhea disease (ADD) in infants according to lactation type. Design: We carried out a descriptive, comparative, and cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods. We conducted a non-randomized sample by convenience that included total infants seen by an Infant Maternal Nurse during the first 6 months of 2004. We studied a group of 116 infants according to lactation type during their first 4 months of life and classified these infants into three groups: breast-fed; bottle-fed, and mixed-fed. Weight/age, height/age, and weight/height indexes were determined at birth and at 2 and 4 months of age. Inferential statistics with χ2 were employed to observe differences between ARI and ADD according to feeding type, and Mann-Whitney U test was utilized for growth differences, with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: The sample was composed of 63 (54%) female and 53 (46%) male infants; 64 (55.1%) were fed with mixed lactation, 34 (29.3%) with breast feeding, and (15.5%) with bottle feeding. Average weight and height at birth were 3.249 kg and 52 cm, while at 2 months of age the infants were 5.999 kg and 57 cm and at 4 months age, 6.499 kg and 67.5 cm. Infections predominated in mixed lactation: there were two (64%) cases of ADD and 64 (55.1%) cases of ARI. Conclusions: Feeding type is not significant with regard to differences in expected growth; in our study, infants with malnutrition were found when weight/height/age indexes were used. Mixed feeding could be a risk factor for ARI and ADD.REFERENCES