Influence of mother's age on infant child's nutrition

Abstract In order to study the influence of the mother’s age on the nutrition of children of the first year of life-based on 7 St. Petersburg children’s polyclinics, it was conducted a random sample survey of 1742 mothers who had 1-year-old children. The study found that in obstetric hospitals 20-24 years old and 40 and older years old mothers planned to breastfeed a child for the longest time, but 18 to 35 years old mothers continued breastfeeding for the longest time. With maternal age increasing the proportion of refusals of breastfeeding grows due to the lack of milk and with the need to study or work, but the proportion of refusals related to the unwillingness of the mother to continue breastfeeding decreases. Assessment of the impact of age on the timing of the introduction of complementary foods in the child’s diet showed that the older the mother is, the later she introduces the first and second complementary foods. Mothers under 20 and over 40 were more likely than mothers of other age groups to introduce meat and fish puree later than it is recommended. Almost all mothers under 20 gave children cottage cheese paste and egg yolk at the optimal time, unlike women of other age groups, who introduced these products later. With the increase of the mother’s age, the proportion of children who received fermented milk products in the recommended period increases and the proportion who received them later decreases. Thus, the age of the mother has a significant impact on the nutrition of children in their first year