BREAST-FEEDING BRAZILIAN CHILDREN: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Authors

  • Neusa Guaraciaba dos Santos Oliveira
  • Elaine Pedreira Rabinovich

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.38592

Keywords:

breast-feeding, developmental context, supporting network, maternal motivation, breast-feeding/weaning standards, sociofamiliar everyday reality.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare breast-feeding systems in three different developmental contexts: a group of children aged 0-2 years from low income families living in an urban arca in the city of São Paulo; a group of children aged 4- 12 attending a public day-care centre also in the city of São Paulo; a group of children aged 0-3 years from a poor rural arca in
the state of Piauí, Northeast of Brazil. It was an ethos-ethnographic study. Data were obtained through interviews with the mothers about their child and family; observations of mother-child interaction; video recording; registration of the environment. Breast-feeding systems were compared as to: age of weaning; decision about age of weaning; breast-feeding schedule; food supplement; locus of breast-feeding; breast-feeding/weaning standards. It was concluded that: age of weaning was related to mother’s motivation and to presence/absence of a supporting network, in which norms were confronted with the sociofamiliar everyday reality; eneralisations about breast-feeding practices to the overall population without considering contextual variables should be avoided; western values of individualism, separateness and autonomy seem contradictory in relation to breast-feeding.

Author Biographies

  • Neusa Guaraciaba dos Santos Oliveira
    Doutaranda e mestrado no Dpto de Psicologia Experimental/lPUSP, pesquisadora do Centro de Estudos do Crescimento e Desenvolvimento do Ser Humano-CDH~ FSP-USP
  • Elaine Pedreira Rabinovich
    Pós-doutoranda e doutorado no Depto de Psicologia Social/lPUSP, mestrado em Psicologia  Experimental/lPUSP, pesquisadora do CDH, FSP-USP e do L^APSI-IPUSP.

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Published

1999-02-19

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1 (1999)

Section

Original/Atualização

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