Continued breastfeeding in the mesoregions of minas gerais: an analysis of sisvan data from 2015 to 2022

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the prevalence of continued breastfeeding (CBF) among children aged 6 to 23 months monitored by the Food and Nutrition Surveillance System (SISVAN) across the mesoregions of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, between 2015 and 2022. Methods: This ecological descriptive study of temporal trends was based on secondary data from SISVAN, with analyses of absolute and relative frequencies. Municipalities were grouped into mesoregions according to the classification proposed by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). CBF was assessed using the food consumption indicator corresponding to children aged 6 months to 23 months and 29 days. Results: The study included 607 municipalities and 512,245 children distributed across 12 mesoregions. During the study period, an increase was observed in the number of children monitored by the system. The prevalence of CBF varied over time, with differences across years and mesoregions. Between 2016 and 2020, as well as in 2022, an increase in CBF prevalence was observed in most mesoregions. In contrast, 2021 showed a reduction in CBF prevalence in a greater number of mesoregions. Conclusion: Overall, CBF prevalence increased throughout the study period, although the magnitude and direction of changes varied across mesoregions, indicating heterogeneous temporal patterns in the distribution of the indicator.