title: Weaning practices in other parts of the world: case study Russia.
abstract: To evaluate infant feeding and weaning practices and anthropometric characteristics of 2-to 24-month-old children in Russia.
  A comprehensive analysis of data collected from face-to-face interviews of a random Russia representative sample of 2,500 mothers of children. We used a specially designed questionnaire that includes sections on health, especially feeding practices, food intake from the previous day and the measurement of height and weight. The survey was conducted within the framework of 'Start Healthy Stay Healthy' program in Russia, sponsored by Gerber, Nestlé Nutrition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Incidence of breastfeeding among children of various age was as follows: from 2 to 4 months: 70%, from 4 to 6 months: 60%, from 6 to 9 months: 46%. The most common weaning food was fruit juice (59.4% of children), followed by fruit puree (18%) and cereals (6.4%). 4.4% of respondents used cow's milk as the first weaning food. It was found that examined children were slightly taller (z score for height-forage, 0.11) and heavier (z score for weight-for-age, 0.63) than the WHO standards.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evaluation of infant/toddler feeding and weaning practice will help to develop guidelines and educational programs to prevent nutrition-related diseases in Russia.
authors: Institute of Nutrition, Russian Academy of Medical Science, Moscow, Russia.
authors: Alexander K
authors: AK
authors: Baturin
mesh_terms: D001628:Beverages; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000208:ethnology; D002657:Child Development; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000208:ethnology; D005248:Feeding Methods; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D041943:Infant Formula; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014886:Weaning / Q000208:ethnology