Padrões e determinantes do uso de chupeta em crianças

Abstract

 

Although pacifiers are commonly used by Brazilian children and are potencially harmful, there are no studies about their patterns and determinants. These were investigated in a cross-sectional study of 354 children under two years of age living in two slum areas of Pelotas, southern Brazil. Most children (79%) were pacifiers users, 15% had never used them, and 6% had used them in the past. Among users, 38% spent most of the time sucking a pacifier. For two-thirds of the children, pacifiers were ofered on the very first day of life. Pacifier use was most common among younger children, among those of low-schooling mothers and among nonbreastfeed infants.