Self-care practices related to children nutrition in rural areas

ABSTRACT

Objective  describe the self-care practices related to children nutrition in rural areas and its interactions with models of health care.

Methods  qualitative study, descriptive, developed in rural communities of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, with seven families, and an amount of ten women. For data production, we used observation and open interviews. We analyzed data according to Leininger’s thematic analysis.

Results  “Human milk is good, but it is not enough” and “my family have influenced my decisions: I could breastfeed” are the main themes in the study. From them, we notice the necessity of comprehending the symbolical meanings of these practices for children’s health production with culturally congruent and effective actions.

Conclusions  Mixed breastfeeding seems to be the most important self-care practice related to children nutrition in the analyzed rural areas. These practices are among the knowledge of the Hegemonic Medical Model for health education and practice and knowledge learned from the family and community.

Breastfeeding; Culture; Nursing; Rural population