Breastfeeding and diseases prevalent in the first two years of a child’s life: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: to assess the association between breastfeeding and diseases prevalent in the first two years of a child’s life. METHODS: a retrospective cross-sectional study that analyzed electronic medical records of 401 children. Data on birth, growth, breastfeeding and medical care in the first two years of life were collected. In the analysis, Poisson regression with robust variance was used. RESULTS: 27.9% of children were exclusively breastfed until six months, and, at 24 months, 93.3% had already had some prevalent childhood disease. In the crude analysis, 5-minute Apgar association, length, weight at 12 months, exclusive and non-exclusive breastfeeding time had association. In the adjusted analysis, only the variable breastfeeding at six months maintained the association with prevalent childhood diseases. CONCLUSIONS: children who were not breastfed, exclusively or not, up to six months of age, had a higher prevalence of diseases compared to breastfed children.