Antalya provincial use of food supplements for their babies and investigation of the attitudes of the mothers with 0-6 months baby who refer to primary health services

Introduction: Factors such as increasing chronic diseases and the disappearance of adequate and balanced nutrition in recent years bring the widespread use of food supplements in both adult and pediatric age groups. The aim of the study is to evaluate the use of food supplements for their babies, the attitudes of mothers on this issue and the factors associated with the use of food supplements for mothers who applied to the primary health care services in Antalya province and had 0-6 months old babies. Material-Method: The study is cross-sectional. The study questionnaire was conducted by the principal researcher by face-to-face interview technique and by reaching the mothers via telephone. Analyzes were made with IBM version 22.0 program. The statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05. Findings: 291 people participated in the study. 88.0% of the participants were using vitamin D and iron supplements recommended in the routine program for their babies. The rate of those who stated that they used any food supplement other than iron and vitamin D support was found to be 26.8%. Except for iron and vitamin D, the most commonly used food supplements were prebiotic with 60% and zinc with 30.0%. Of the participants using food supplements, 86.6% reported that they used the product with the advice of a doctor, and 82.9% reported that they obtained the products from a pharmacy. The most common reasons for supplement use are; infantile colic (42.9%), protecting health (39.3%), strengthening the immune system (28.6%), supporting growth and development (26.2%) Conclusion and Recommendations: In our study, the use of products other than iron and vitamin D was found to be quite high, and it is extremely important that all mothers who apply to them for any reason, from all primary care physicians, question whether they use any nutritional supplements for their babies, and if there is a use of supplements other than medical necessity/doctor's advice, they should inform mothers about this issue. Keywords: food supplements, nutritional supplement, infant nutrition, health chehk-up in primary care, infant check-up.