Association between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and the practice of breast-feeding in children under 2 years of age who are beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer programme, Bolsa Família.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) and the practice of breast-feeding in children under 2 years of age assisted by the conditional cash transfer programme, Bolsa Familia Programme (PBF). DESIGN A cross-sectional study. The consumption of UPF and the practice of breast-feeding were assessed using a structured 24-h recall. Associations were calculated using hierarchical Poisson regression, adjusted at the last level by socio-economic, demographic and environmental variables from previous hierarchical levels. SETTING Six counties from the state of Alagoas, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS Children aged 6-24 months, assisted by PBF. RESULTS A total of 1604 children were evaluated, 11·7% of whom were overweight, and most had consumed UPF (90·6%) in the last 24 h. The most consumed UPF were biscuits, chocolate milk and baby food with 74·8, 66·8 and 24·9%, respectively. Through multivariable analysis, an association was found between lower consumption of UPF in the continuation of breast-feeding until the second year of life (prevalence ratio (PR) 0·91, 95 % CI 0·86, 0·96) and in the first year of life (PR 0·93, 95 % CI 0·88, 0·99). CONCLUSIONS It was found that the studied population had a high consumption of UPF, which harmed continued breast-feeding. We highlight the importance of strengthening public policies aimed at the promotion, protection and support of breast-feeding and healthy complementary feeding aimed at populations that have difficulties in physical and economic access to a healthy and adequate diet.