Creencias maternas, prácticas de alimentación, y estado nutricional en ni？os Afro-Colombianos

this study describes maternal practices and beliefs on children feeding and their relationship with nutritional status of afro-colombian children aged 6 to 18 months. we combined ethnographic and epidemiological data. we collected information using a food frequency questionnaire. nine focus groups and 5 deep interviews to mothers of children less than 2 years of age were performed. our data showed a prevalence of wasting of 2.6% (< -2 sd weight-for-length) and prevalence of stunting of 9.8% (<-2 sd height-for-age). these practices are characterized by a universal onset of breastfeeding, that lasted 10 months in average, and an early introduction of complementary food (mean: 3 months). breastfeeding is a cultural norm. weaning is related to new pregnancy, to low milk production and to negative effects of breast process on mothers？ health. early complementary feeding and bottle-feeding are highly valued due to their positive effect on nutritional status and adaptation of children to adult-type diets. the introduction of complementary food after 4 months, the quality of the first food introduced and the diversity of complementary food predicted better nutritional status (p< 0.05). we conclude that nutritional illiteracy and mothers？ erroneous beliefs result in 50% of the mothers having inadequate feeding practices. we suggest focused interventions on those beliefs limiting good practices.