Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil.
Rev Paul Pediatr. 2021 Oct 4;40:e2020321. doi: 10.1590/1984-0462/2022/40/2020321. eCollection 2021.
To describe Brazilian health professionals' perception about the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) method use for complementary feeding.
Cross-sectional, descriptive study including 458 health professionals graduated in Nursing, Speech Therapy, Medicine, Nutrition or Dentistry and working in Pediatrics, being directly or indirectly involved with pediatric nutrition. We used a convenience non-probability sampling. The questionnaire applied to participants addressed demographic characteristics, academic degree, workplace, knowledge about clinical practice and perceptions about the possible advantages of the BLW method.
Participants had a mean age of 34.5±8.5 years, 64.6% of them working in Southeast Brazil and 65.3% being nutritionists. Most participants reported being acquainted with the BLW method (82.0%). Regarding clinical practice, 38.3% mentioned having recommended the BLW some times, 37.5% often and 20.5% always. Most participants fully agreed that the BLW method could have advantages for babies, for example, having them more likely to share family meals, facilitating adaptation to food flavors and consistencies, enhancing chewing and favoring the development of motor skills. On the other hand, important disagreements were also expressed regarding the BLW convenience and the possibility to create less concerns or anxiety in parents.
The BLW method reported as advantageous, but disagreements were also raised, probably because scientific evidences on the suject are scarse. Further investigation is needed so we can better understand the risks and benefits and health care professionals can feel effectively assisted to offer support and advice to parents and caretakers.
描述巴西卫生专业人员对婴儿主导的离乳（BLW）方法在补充喂养中的使用的看法。
这是一项横断面、描述性研究，纳入了 458 名毕业于护理、言语治疗、医学、营养或牙科专业，并在儿科工作的卫生专业人员，他们直接或间接地参与儿童营养。我们使用了便利非概率抽样。应用于参与者的问卷涉及人口统计学特征、学历、工作场所、对临床实践的了解以及对 BLW 方法可能优势的看法。
参与者的平均年龄为 34.5±8.5 岁，其中 64.6%在巴西东南部工作，65.3%为营养师。大多数参与者表示熟悉 BLW 方法（82.0%）。关于临床实践，38.3%的人表示曾多次推荐 BLW，37.5%的人经常推荐，20.5%的人总是推荐。大多数参与者完全同意 BLW 方法对婴儿可能有优势，例如，他们更有可能与家人一起用餐，便于适应食物的味道和质地，增强咀嚼能力，并促进运动技能的发展。另一方面，对于 BLW 的便利性和减少父母担忧或焦虑的可能性，也表达了重要的不同意见。
BLW 方法被认为是有利的，但也存在分歧，这可能是因为关于该主题的科学证据不足。需要进一步研究，以便我们更好地了解风险和益处，使卫生保健专业人员能够有效地提供支持和建议给父母和照顾者。
