OBJECTIVES: to compare supplementary food cost of nursing mothers related to breast feeding with breast milk substitutes. METHODS: the cost of energy spent during lactation was calculated with the addition of one or two types of food of the usual diet to supply the extra demand of a nursing baby. Menus were designed and calculated for the mothers and food cost estimated as well as the cost of baby formulas and type C cow milk for children under six months of age according to nutritional recommendations for this phase of life considering a six month consumption period. Percentage of minimum wage spent with each type of food was determined. RESULTS: supplementary food offered to mothers has an average cost of 8.7% of the minimum wage. Approximately 35% of the minimum wage is spent in feeding the baby with formulas and 11% with type C cow milk. CONCLUSIONS: these values, similar to other surveys indicate the supplementary food aiming at promoting breast feeding is more cost-effective than maternal milk substitutes. The results indicate that it is cheaper and more efficient to assure supplementary food to poor nursing mothers to promote breast feeding than to distribute formulas or milk that induce early weaning.
Economics; Breast feeding; Supplementary feeding
