Growth Profile of 100 Breastfeeding Children with Early Introduction of Infant Formulas in Abidjan, C#244;te d’Ivoire

摘要

Objective: To describe the growth profile of breastfeeding babies following early introduction of infant formulas to improve the feeding pattern of the young infant. Methodology: This is a longitudinal descriptive study conducted in 2 medical clinics in Abidjan from 11-Jun-2013 to 15-Dec-2016 on 100 healthy newborn babies with the introduction of infant formulas before 6 months of life. The anthropometrics parameters were compared to those of WHO. Results: The exclusive breastfeeding rate was 5%. Ablactation occurred within 12 months in 95% of cases. All Infants have doubled and tripled their birth weight at 3 and 9 months respectively. The height and the head circumference at birth increased by 50% and 37% respectively at 12 months. Compared to WHO growth charts, the weight gain for the girls at 3 months was 12.4% higher and for the boys was 7.3% higher at 6 months. On the other hands, the statural gain at 12 months was 50% lower than the WHO standards while the head circumference was 37.8% and 45.5% higher than the WHO standards in boys and girls respectively. At 3 months, the prevalence of stunting was 26.1% for boys and 13.3% for girls. Lastly, at 12 months, the BMI showed 10% overweight and 19% obesity. Conclusion: Breastfeeding associated with an early introduction of infant formulas increases the risk of malnutrition of the young infant. We advise to avoid it and recommend an exclusive breastfeeding.