INTRODUCTION: Nutrition is an important aspect in the growth and development of infants in the first year of life. Complementary feeding is a complex process that is influenced by social, economic and cultural factors. OBJECTIVES: To verify the age of introduction of complementary food in the first year of life, and its relation with demographic and socioeconomic variables. METHODS: A cohort of children born in a University Hospital in the Municipality of Sao Paulo was studied. The age of introduction of foods to the infants was verified through a form that mothers filled out every day with the foods offered to their children, until the end of the follow-up. The introduction of foods was described using the Kaplan & Meier life table analysis. The association between age of introduction of foods and independents variables was analyzed by using Cox's multivariate analysis model. RESULTS: The median age of introduction of water or tea, milk, fruits, greens and vegetables, cereals and tubercles was less than six months. Statistically significant associations between mother's schooling, family income, working conditions of the mother and supplementary foods introduction were observed. CONCLUSION: There was an early introduction of the water or tea and non-breast milk. In addition to family income and mother's working conditions, mother's schooling seems to be the variable that most influenced the introduction of supplementary foods.
Breastfeeding; Weaning; Supplementary feeding; Infant feeding; Infant feeding practices
