Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turkiye Klinikleri Pediatri, cilt.25, sa.1, ss.14-22, 2016 (Scopus)
Objective: Normal defecation pattern is one of the health indicators for children. Stool number and patterns in children can show differences depending on factors such as age and feeding type. To know normal defecation patterns prevents unnecessary treatment via distinguishing normal defecation from abnormal and reduces health costs via informing parents who have serious concerns about this issue. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of breast feeding on defecation pattern of 0-6 months-old breast-fed infants. Material and Methods: The study was carried out at Well Child Clinic of the Istanbul Medical School in Istanbul University, between June 2010 and January 2011 and included 100 infants aged 0-6 months. A structured questionnaire was filled on the day when families arrived at the Well Child Clinic and infants' anthropometric measurements were recorded. Stools that infants passed in the last 24 hours were collected and analyzed in the laboratory. Color, consistency, pH and steatocrit of stools were evaluated. Data analyses were performed in SPSS 15.0 and SigmaStat 3.5 programs. Significance level was accepted as p>0.05 in statistical comparisons. Results: Seventy four percent of infants defecated daily. Stool frequency of infants decreased with age and infants breastfed in frequent intervals defecated more frequently (p>0.05). Exclusively breast-fed infants had more frequent defecation than the ones receiving complementary foods/formula in addition to breast milk. Conclusion: In conclusion, our results led us to think that defecation and growth patterns of infants aged 0-6 months show diversity according to the age and feeding characteristics.