Dietary patterns of children aged 6-24 months assisted by the Bolsa Família Program.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to verify the association between socio-economic and demographic characteristics and dietary patterns (DP) of children assisted by the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, Bolsa Família Program (BFP).

DESIGN

This is a cross-sectional study. DP were defined using a principal component analysis. The association of the predictive variables and DP was modelled using multilevel linear regression analysis.

SETTING

This study was conducted in six municipalities from the State of Alagoas, Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS

The participants were children aged 6-24 months who were assisted by the BFP.

RESULTS

A total of 1604 children were evaluated. Four DP were identified (DP1, DP2, DP3 and DP4). DP1 is composed of traditional Brazilian food. DP2 is formed mostly from ultra-processed foods (UPF). DP3 consists of milk (non-breast) with added sugar, while DP4 consists of fresh and minimally processed foods. Caregivers with higher age and education (β = -0·008; (95 % CI -0·017, -0·000); β = -0·037; (95 % CI -0·056, -0·018), respectively) were negatively associated with DP2. We observed a negative association between households with food insecurity (β = -0·204; (95 % CI -0·331, -0·078)) and DP4 and a positive association between caregivers with higher age and education (β = 0·011; (95 % CI (0·003; 0·019); β = 0·043; (95 % CI 0·025, 0·061), respectively) and DP4.

CONCLUSION

This study identified the association between socio-economic inequities and DP early in life, with an early introduction of UPF, in children assisted by BFP in the State of Alagoas.