Introdução: As práticas apropriadas de alimentação infantil para promoção do crescimento e desenvolvimento incluem o aleitamento materno (AM) exclusivo nos primeiros 6 meses de vida e a introdução de novos alimentos aos 6 meses, com AM contínuo até os 2 anos de idade ou mais. Mães com depressão no pós-parto (DPP) podem mostrar dificuldades para alimentar seus bebês. Objetivos: nossos objetivos são: examinar a associação entre DPP e introdução precoce de alimentos complementares (IPAC) antes dos 4 meses de idade e descrever a frequência de IPAC em mulheres com histórico de depressão durante a gravidez. Métodos: Usamos dados transversais de mulheres inscritas em ensaio comunitário, coletados entre 6 a 9 meses após o parto. A DPP foi avaliada por meio do Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Modelos de regressão de Poisson com variância robusta foram usados para examinar a associação entre DPP e IPAC. As covariáveis incluíram fatores demográficos, socioeconômicos, maternos e infantis. Um total de 326 díades mãe-bebê foram incluídas. Resultados: A prevalência geral de IPAC foi de 75,8%. Não houve diferenças na IPAC em relação à presença de DPP. A prevalência mais baixa de IPAC se associou à continuidade do AM aos 6 meses, trabalhar fora de casa e menor renda familiar. Os alimentos introduzidos mais comumente incluíram: água, chá, leite e biscoitos, sem diferenças em relação à depressão materna. Conclusão: Intervenções para prevenir a IPAC não devem priorizar a condição emocional materna no período pós-parto, mas a prática da amamentação e aspectos sociais como renda familiar e trabalho externo da mulher.

INTRODUCTION: Adequate and healthy feeding is essential for infant and child development. Complementary feeding must occur in timing and appropriately, supplying child´s nutritional needs. Postpartum depressed (PPD) mothers show difficulties in general care and practices related to child´s feeding. The aim of this study is to verify the association between PPD and early complementary foods introduction (IPAC), at 4 months old, and to describe the frequency of early food's introduction. METHODOLOGY: Cross-sectional study, performed from August 2013 to August 2014, through data collected between 6 to 9 months after labor, from 326 puerperal women who had participated in a community trial (PROGRAVIDA). IPAC data and other information were collected via structured questionnaire. PPD was evaluated through the "Patient Health Questionnaire-9". Poisson regression models with robust variance, following a hierarchical model, were used to evaluate the association between PPD and IPAC. In the simplified model, the prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence level (95%CI) between PPD and IPAC was estimated, taking into consideration the randomization of participants in the community trial. Multivariate models estimated the PR and 95%CI between PPD e IPAC, adjusted for sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables (ethnicity, education, monthly family income, employment and marital status), maternal data (age, number of children and type of delivery), perinatal data (age and birth weight) and child data (pacifier use and breastfeeding). The statistical analysis was performed with STATA 12 software and the significance level was considered equal or lower than 5%. RESULTS: The IPAC general prevalence was 75.8% (95%IC 0.71-0.80). In the simplified model no association was found between depression and IPAC (PR: 0.97; 95%CI 0.83-1.14). In the multivariate analysis, it was encountered a lower prevalence of IPAC among women who were still breastfeeding at 6 months, in those who worked out and among women with lower family income. The estimate of the simplified association between PPD and IPAC did not change significantly after adjustment for possible confounding variables. Therefore, postpartum women with severe to moderate depression did not present differences in IPAC, compared to women without depression or mild depression (PR: 0.96; 95%CI 0.81-1.12). Foods with a higher proportion of early introduction were water, tea and other milks, and the ones with the lowest proportion were meats, rice and beans and pasta, and there were no differences between the groups¸ according to maternal depression. CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of IPAC, independently of depression levels. Interventions to restrict IPAC should not prioritize woman's mood in the puerperium, but rather the practice of breastfeeding and social aspects, such as family income and mother's external work.