Breastfeeding is associated with children's dietary diversity in Brazil

The aim of this study was to describe food consumption patterns in Brazilian children aged 6-24 months and to assess differences between breastfed children who do not consume non-human milks, breastfed children who consume non-human milks, and non-breastfed children. This study used data from the Brazilian National Demographic and Health Survey (2006). The food consumption patterns of 1,455 children were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. One indicator adopted in this study was the healthy diverse diet. The association between breastfeeding and food consumption was tested using multivariate Poisson regression. At the interview, 15.8% of the children were breastfed without consuming non-human milk, 30.7% consumed breast milk in conjunction with non-human milk, and 53% were not breastfed anymore. Over half consumed the recommended foods, 78% consumed foods rich in sugar, fat, and salt, and only 3.4% were on a healthy diverse diet. The breastfed children who did not consume non-human milks were almost five times more likely to be on a healthy diverse diet and were 19% less likely to consume foods rich in sugar, fat, and salt than the breastfed children who also consumed non-human milks and the non-breastfed children.