Supplementary feeding

• April 25, 2024

Since 1998, the World Health Organization (WHO) has named the term "Complementary Feeding" (CA) to refer to the process that begins with the gradual and gradual introduction of foods different to breast milk. The objective of AC is to satisfy the nutritional needs of the boy , and not necessarily weaning it, until integrating it into the diet of its family .

This situation establishes a congruent vision between the forms of feeding and the nutritional needs of the small ones, so that in the first semester of life they do not receive different foods to the mother's milk without justified reasons; and so that in the second semester they receive a correct complementary feeding.

During the first year of life, babies find themselves in a very vulnerable situation where nutrition depends entirely on adults, influenced by health professionals, the mass media and the industry that processes food for infants.

To start the CA process, it is recommended to resort to foods of natural origin, unprocessed, fresh, of the region, of the season and culturally accepted. It is not recommended that children eat raw foods, eggs, fresh cheeses or cream in their second semester of life, due to the ease with which they are contaminated and are a source of culture for organisms that cause infections. All vegetables should be offered cooked.

Under the advice of the pediatrician, it is recommended that at the beginning of the CA a single food be given, among which are cereals, fruits or vegetables in an appropriate consistency.

(Source: FLORES-HUERTA, Samuel et al.) Complementary feeding in children over six months of age: Technical bases: Bol. Med. Hosp. Infant. Mex. [Online]. 2006, vol.63, n.2, pp. 129-144, ISSN 1665-1146.)

Video Medicine: Supplementary feeding programme – Child Nutrition (April 2024).