TITLE:
Growth Profile of 100 Breastfeeding Children with Early Introduction of Infant Formulas in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
AUTHORS:
Richard Azagoh-Kouadio, Kouadio Vincent Asse, Jean-Jacques Yao Atteby, Lassina Cisse, Jacob Slanziahuelie Enoh, Ehouman Mocket Adolphe, Stéphane Koffi-Djadan, Soumahoro Oulai
KEYWORDS:
Infant, Exclusive Breastfeeding, Infant Formulas, Growth, WHO Standards, Cote d’Ivoire
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.7 No.4,
November
21,
2017
ABSTRACT: 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.