Seasonality of infant feeding practices in three Brazilian birth cohorts

Abstract

Background We assessed the influence of season of birth on duration of breastfeeding and other feeding patterns in three population-based birth cohort studies in the city of Pelotas, Southern Brazil.Methods In 1982, 1993 and 2004, all hospital-born children in the city were enrolled in three cohort studies (n = 5914, 5249 and 4287, respectively). Children and their mothers were periodically visited in the first 2 years of life, to collect information on the duration of breastfeeding and the ages at which different types of foods were introduced on a regular basis. Two independent variables were studied: month of birth and mean environmental temperature in the first month of life. Survival analyses and chi-squared tests were used to evaluate the associations. Temperature-based slope indices of inequality were also calculated.Results Duration of breastfeeding was lower among children born from April to June (months preceding winter) and spending their first month of life in colder temperatures. The influence of season of birth on breastfeeding patterns and the introduction of cow's milk differed according to maternal education, with the strongest effects among children belonging to less educated mothers. Early introduction of fruits (1982 and 1993 cohorts) and vegetables (1982 cohort) were also associated with lower environmental temperature in the first month of life, but not with trimester of birth.Conclusion Colder temperatures adversely affect duration of breastfeeding and feeding patterns in infancy, especially among the poorest. This finding should be considered in breastfeeding promotion programmes.

Mobile phone support to sustain exclusive breastfeeding in the community after hospital delivery and counseling: a quasi-experimental study

“…The pre-intervention infants were born between April and June 2010 (summer) and the intervention infants between July and September 2010 (monsoon). Although seasonality has been described as a factor which affects breastfeeding [34,35], it is unclear in which way this happens. Some studies suggest decrease in the cold season and others in the wet season.…”

Effects of Birth Month on Child Health and Survival in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…A population's age-specific mortality profile may vary by birth month due to interactions between climate, disease, socio-cultural behaviors (e.g., seasonality in breastfeeding (González-Chica et al, 2012)), and the age at which a child experiences various seasons. For instance, due to the interactions between waning maternal immunity and seasonal fluctuations in disease risk, a child born at the peak of a measles outbreak may be better protected than a child born a few months prior, especially in areas with low vaccination coverage (Breschi and Livi-Bacci, 1997; Victora et al, 1987).…”

Breastfeeding and complementary feeding associated with body composition in 18–19 years old adolescents in the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort

“…Exclusive breastfeeding was not assessed due to lack of policies to encourage breastfeeding at that time [23] . Furthermore, the median duration of exclusive breastfeeding in our cohort was 0.1 months [24].. We applied two different breastfeeding variables, one in a dichotomous way (yes/no) and the second one in a polytomous way, categorized according to the duration of breastfeeding as never, 0.01-1.00; 1.01-3.00; 3.01-6.00; 6.01-12.00; >12.00 months. The age of introduction of other milk products and complementary foods was categorized as ≤1.00; 1.01-2.00; 2.01-3.00; 3.01-4.00; 4.01-5.00; >5.00 months.…”