Uso de chupeta em pré-escolares do sul do Brasil: prevalência e fatores associados

Abstract

Objective: to investigate the prevalence and the factors associated with pacifier use by preschoolers. Subjects and method: cross-sectional study performed with 1316 children from zero to five years of age, in the city of Canoas, RS, Brazil. The research instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire answered by the responsible persons on sociodemographic (sex, skin color, child and maternal age, maternal level of education, and family structure and income) and behavioral (bottle-feeding and breastfeeding) characteristics. The outcome was the presence/absence of pacifier use. The statistical analysis included Poisson regression with crude and adjusted robust variance. Results: the prevalence of pacifier use at some point in life was 68.1%. The adjusted multi-variate analysis showed that bottle-fed children presented a threefold higher prevalence of the outcome (PR: 3.21, 95%CI 2.25-4.59, p<0.001) compared to those who had never used the bottle. Moreover, an additional analysis found that younger children still use the pacifier compared to older ones. Conclusion: it is concluded that the prevalence of pacifier use is high and it is associated with nutrition habits. Thus, understanding the association of biopsychosocial aspects and their causality network becomes essential for establishing health promotion strategies in early childhood.