title: [Methods of feeding infants at home and in Homes for Small Children in Cracow in the past 20 years].
abstract: The observations of infants feeding practices are a part of a longitudinal study on the effect of nutrition upon health and development in the first years of life. The food intake of infants living in families was evaluated by 24-hour dietary recall, monthly for six months and then at three-monthly (till 1 year) and half-yearly intervals. In "Homes for Small Children" the individual weighed inventory method was used. The basis of presented results are 772 questionnaries about infants feeding in first six months and 445 questionnaries of infants feeding till the age of 24 months, the data for 14 days of nutritional survey in "Homes for Small Children" in the years 1961/62 and for 17 days in 1973/74. The number of feedings per day decreases in infants throughout the first year from mainly 7 in the first month till mainly 5 at the age of 12 months. Meals composition of infants aged 4 months and older is comparable to the schedule recommended by the National Research Institute for Mother and Child. Of importance is the observation concerning the short duration of wholly breast (41,5% of infants at the 1 month and nearly null at 4 months) and the early introduction of "solid" foods (that is gluten containing cereals), by adding them to milk formulas (30% of infants at 1 month and 78% at 2 months). In conclusions, there is stressed the need for encouragement by medical staff of all mothers to longer full breast feeding of their babies. Further observations are necessary to evaluate the effect of meals number and the possible unsatisfactory contribution of early cereals introduction for the health and wellbeing of infants.
mesh_terms: D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding; D004045:Dietary Services; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009724:Nurseries, Infant; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011044:Poland; D014505:Urban Population
vernacular_title: Sposób odzywiania niemowlat i małych dzieci w warunkach domowych i w Domach Małego. Dziecka na terenie Krakowa w ostatnim dwudziestoleciu.