Determinants of using pacifier and bottle feeding

OBJECTIVE To analyze the factors associated with the use of pacifiers and/or bottle feeding in infants aged under one year. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study with 34,366 children and using data from the database of the 2nd Nationwide Survey of Breastfeeding Prevalence performed in the Brazilian capitals and Federal District in 2008. Cluster sampling was used. The questionnaire included questions about the use of artificial nipples in the last 24 hours. The analysis considered three outcomes: exclusive use of pacifier, exclusive use of bottle feeding, and use of artificial nipples (pacifier and bottle feeding). Prevalence ratios were obtained using Poisson regression with robust variance following a hierarchical model. RESULTS The following factors were associated with exclusive use of the pacifier: mother working outside the home, primiparity, child was not breastfed within the first hour, and child had consumed tea on the first day at home. The following factors were associated with exclusive use of bottle feeding: mother working outside the home, primiparity, low birth weight, child not breastfed within the first hour, and child had consumed milk formula and tea on the first day at home. The following factors were associated with use of artificial nipples (pacifier and bottle feeding): mother working outside the home, primiparity, cesarean delivery, the male gender, low birth weight, born in a hospital not accredited as “baby friendly”, required health baby monitoring in the Primary Health Care Unit (PR = 0.91), and child had consumed milk formula, water, or tea on the first day at home. CONCLUSIONS This study identified profiles of exclusive users of pacifiers, bottle feeding, and both. The provided information can guide preventive practices for child health

Screening of the antimicrobial properties of the essential oils of Cymbopogon schoenanthus

Objective: The present study describes antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Cymbopogon schoenanthus.Methods: The antimicrobial activity of the oil was evaluated using agar diffusion.Results: The antimicrobial test results showed that the oils had a great potential antimicrobial activity against all 13 bacteria: Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, Enterococcus faecium, E. faecalis, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis and Salmonella typhimurium.Conclusion: Results from this study suggest that the essential oil of Cymbopogon schoenanthus possesses antimicrobial properties, and is therefore may be a potential source of antimicrobial ingredients for the food and pharmaceutical industry

A educação em saúde e suas representações entre alunos de um curso de odontologia Health education and their representations among dental students

A educação em saúde é um importante instrumento para se promover a participação ativa das pessoas na conquista de sua autonomia. Desta forma, este estudo exploratório, de abordagem qualitativa, objetivou avaliar as representações em educação em saúde de graduandos de um curso de odontologia, trazendo à tona dados para a discussão sobre quais concepções têm sustentado suas práticas educativas. Os dados foram coletados por meio de um instrumento contendo a seguinte questão: particularmente, o que você entende por educação em saúde? O mesmo foi aplicado em 67 acadêmicos do último ano do curso, perfazendo 85,3 % da população-alvo. A análise dos dados foi realizada segundo os pressupostos metodológicos qualitativos do discurso do sujeito coletivo. Os resultados evidenciaram que o conceito de educação em saúde dos acadêmicos está fortemente ligado ao conceito positivista de ensinamento, instrução e prevenção de doenças, pautados na ideia de que a falta de informações dos indivíduos é que os induz a não exercerem práticas saudáveis em saúde, sendo função do profissional educar as pessoas neste sentido. Observou-se a necessidade de estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem voltadas a transformar a representação da educação em saúde por parte dos acadêmicos.<br>Health education is an important instrument to promote the active participation ofpeople in becoming self-reliant. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory study, conducted using a qualitative approach, was to evaluate the extent of representation in health education, of undergraduates in a dentistry course, and reveal data for discussion about the concepts that have sustained their educational practices. Data were collected by means of an instrument containing the following question: What do you particularly understand by health education? The instrument was applied to 67 academic students in the last year of the course, comprising 85.3% of the target population. Data analysis was performed according to the qualitative methodological presuppositions of Discourse of the Collective Subject. The results showed that the academic students'concept of health education was strongly linked to the positivist concept of teaching,instruction and disease prevention, rooted in the idea that the lack of information by individuals is the factor that induces them not to perform healthy practices with regard to their health, and it was the professional's responsibility to educate people on the subject of health. The need was observed for teaching-learning strategies directed towards changing the academic students' representation in health education