Food Diversity Among Indigenous Children From Two Municipalities Of The Brazilian Western Amazon

Our aim was to explore the feeding practices of indigenous children younger than two years old, living in Cruzeiro do Sul and Mancio Lima, in Acre, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted with indigenous children of the Katukina (Cruzeiro do Sul), Nukini, Nawa and Poyanawa (Mancio Lima) ethnicities in October 2013. We used a structured questionnaire on the food consumption of the day before the collection, based on the food indicators proposed by the Ministry of Health. A total of 94 children (50% Katukina, 27% Poyanawa, 13% Nukini, and 10% Nawa) were studied. Among children under 6 months of age, although the majority was breastfed, 42.1% drank water, 15.8%, savory food, and 11.1%, local cuisine. In the age groups of 6 to 12 months and 13 to 23 months, a high consumption of ultra-processed foods was identified (52.6% and 28.6% respectively), while the consumption of complementary food was insufficient (33% of fruits and 25% of savory food between 6 and 13 months, and 41.2% of fruits and 19.6% of savory food between 13 and 23 months). The feeding profile of these indigenous children was inadequate for their age, revealing a concerning situation for this population.