A
breastfed baby gets the best start in life. Breastmilk (and
colostrum during the first days after birth) contain all the
antibodies a baby needs to immunize him against most of
the early childhood illnesses.
Breastfed
babies suffer fewer incidences of diarrhoea, respiratory and
middle ear infections and are less likely to develop allergies
(see below). Breastmilk provides complete nourishment for
an infant from birth up to about six months of age. Apart
from its immunological benefits, it is always at the right
temperature, needs no sterilization, costs nothing and almost
every mother and baby pair can breastfeed successfully. Breastfeeding
promotes emotional bonding between mother and child. There
are also health benefits for the mother as indicated below.
Benefits
to child health
- Cancer (1) Children who
are exclusively breastfed for at least 6 months are half as likely
to develop cancer before the age of 15 than children not breastfed.
- Diarrhoea (2) In southern
Brazilian cities babies who receive no breastmilk are 14.2 times
more likely to die from diarrhoea than breastfed babies.
- Diabetes (3 ) Children who
receive cow's milk formulas before the age of 2 months are twice
as likely to develop diabetes.
- Sudden
infant death
(4) Non-breastfed
infants are almost 3 times more likely to be victims of sudden
infant death than breastfed infants.
- Malocclusion (crooked teeth)
(5) Among breastfed
children, the longer the duration of breastfeeding, the lower
the incidence of malocclusion.
- Urinary
tract infection
(6 ) From birth
to 6 months bottle-fed infants are 5 times more likely than breastfed
infants to contract urinary infections.
- Ear
infection
(7) Infants aged
from birth to 12 months who are exclusively breastfed have one
half the number of ear infections than infants who are not breastfed.
- Dental
caries
(8) Children who
have been breastfed show fewer decayed deciduous teeth than children
not breastfed.
- Better
vision
(9) Both pre-term
and full-term breastmilk-fed infants have better vision at 4
months and at 36 months than artificially fed infants.
- Optimal
intellectual development (10 ,11) Children breastfed
for longer periods showed higher scores on mental ability tests.
- Acute
respiratory infection
(ARI) (12)
Bottle-fed infants have increase rates of ARI.
- Multiple
sclerosis
(13) Multiple sclerosis
victims are less likely to have been breastfed than healthy
people.
Benefits
to maternal health
- Breast
cancer
(14) Breastfeeding
for at least 3 months can reduce the risk of premenopausal
breast cancer by one half.
- Osteoporosis
(15) The risk of
hip fracture in women over 65 is reduced by half by having
breastfed. Breastfeeding each child for 9 months reduces the
risk to 1/4.
- Birth
spacing (16) As long as
a mother full or nearly fully breastfeeds she is 98% protected
from a pregnancy for the first 6 months and 96% after 6 months
and as long as she has no return of menses.
- Ovarian
cancer (17) Breastfeeding
for at least 2 months per child reduces the risk of epithelial
ovarian cancer by 25%.
References
1.
Davis MK et al. Infant feeding and childhood cancer, The Lancet,
Aug. 13, 1988: 365-368.
2.
Victora CG et al. Evidence for protection by breastfeeding against
infant deaths from infectious diseases in Brazil, The Lancet,
Aug. 7, 1987: 319-322.
3.
Virtanen SM et al. Early introduction of dairy products associated
with increased risk of IDDM in Finnish children, Diabetes, 42:
1786-1790, 1993.
4.
Mitchel EA et al. results from the first year of the New Zealand
cot death study, New Zealand Medical Journal, 104: 71-76, 1991.
5.
Labbok MH and Hendershot GE. Does breastfeeding protect against
malocclusion? An analysis of the 1981 child health supplement
o the National Health Interview Survey, American Journal of Preventive
Medicine, 3(4): 227-232, 1987.
6.
Pisacane A et al. Breast-feeding and urinary tract infection,
Journal of Pediatrics, 120(1): 87-89, 1992.
7.
Duncan B et al. Exclusive breast-feeding for at least 4 months
protects against otitis media, Pediatrics, 91(5): 867-872, 1993.
8.
Buhl M et al. Epidemiologic findings concerning the incidence
of caries in the deciduous dentition of infants, Deutsche Zahnärtliche
Zeitschrift, 41: 1038-1042, 1986.
9.
Birch E et al. Breast-feeding and optimal visual development,
Journal of Ophthalmology and Strabismus, 30: 33-38, 1993.
10.
Rogan WJ and Gladen BC. Breast-feeding and cognitive development,
Early Human Development, 31: 181-193, 1993.
11.
Lucas A et al. Breast milk and subsequent intelligence quotient
in children born preterm, The Lancet, 339: 261-264, 1993.
12.
Wright AL et al. British Medical Journal, 229: 946-9, 1989.
13.
Pisacane A, et al. Breastfeeding and multiple sclerosis, British
Medical Journal, 308: 1411-1412, 1994.
14.
United Kingdom National Case-Control Study Group. Breastfeeding
and risk of breast cancer in young women, British Medical Journal,
307:17-20, 1993.
15.
Commings RG and Klineberg RJ. Breastfeeding and other reproductive
factors and the risk of hip fracture in elderly women, International
Journal of Epidemiology, 2(4): 684-691, 1993.
16.
Kennedy KI and Visness CM. Contraceptive efficacy of lactational
amenorrhoea, The Lancet, 339: 227-230, 1992.
17.
Rosenblatt KA et al. Lactation and the risk of epithelial ovarian
cancer, International Journal of Epidemiology, 22(2): 192-197,
1993.
Prepared
for IBFAN by Geneva Infant Feeding Action,
Avenue de la Paix 11,
1202 Geneva, Switzerland
See
also: Breastfeeding
briefs
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