INFLUENCE OF BREASTFEEDING ON CONSUMPTION OF SWEETENED BEVERAGES OR FOODS

ABSTRACT Objective: To verify whether breastfeeding is associated with lower prevalence of consumption of sweetened beverages or foods in infants. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with data collected from the Survey on Prevalence of Breastfeeding conducted in Brazilian municipalities in 2008. A representative sample of 14,326 infants aged 6 to 11.9 months of age, residents of 75 municipalities in the State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, was studied. The influence of breastfeeding on the consumption of sweetened beverages or food products was analyzed by multilevel Poisson regression. Variables with p<0.20 in the crude analysis were included in the multilevel analysis. Results: Most infants were on breastfeeding (56.1%). The prevalence of sweetened drinks or foods consumption was 53.3%. The consumption of sweetened products was shown to be less prevalent among breastfed infants after adjustment for confounding factors (PR 0.87; 95%CI 0.83-0.91). Conclusions: Breastfeeding was associated with lower consumption of sweetened beverages or foods. As an additional effect of actions aimed at promoting breastfeeding, a decrease in intake of sweetened products is expected among infants.