Optimal breastfeeding, that is early and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life,  and complemented after the sixth month by sufficient and adequate locally produced food, is the  ideal way  to achieve food security  during the first three years of life, as well as to prevent malnutrition in early life, and obesity and other chronic disorders in adulthood. For mothers,  this is the safest way to feed their babies
and to have longer intervals between pregnancies. The holistic and normative relationship developed
between mothers and their babies around feeding practices, strengthens family and community involvement, as well as the sustainable use of natural resources.

Food security in the early stages of life is essential for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those related to reducing famine and mortality rates of children under five. Over two million deaths can be prevented each year by exclusively breastfeeding babies for  their first six months, and providing them with adequate complementary feeding after their sixth month. This is also a fundamental measure to reduce undernourishment from which, according to FAO, over 800 million people currently suffer, besides being an excellent resource to deal with obesity problems and chronic illnesses facing modern societies. Both under- and over-nutrition pose serious challenges to health care systems. 

The sustained result of the improvement in feeding practices during the early stages of life is that healthy children will be able to reach their full potential for growth and development.

Nonetheless, poverty stemming from the destruction of traditional agricultural economies due to economic globalization, migration, natural disasters and armed conflict, has severely impaired the ability of hundreds of millions of people to support themselves, and to produce or obtain the food they need. 

This situation is particularly severe in areas hardest hit by natural disasters, or those in which seasonal changes have been exacerbated, thus restricting food availability during some seasons of the year.

As a result of this, many countries have developed complementary feeding programs based on the production and distribution of industrially formulated ready-to-use food with a high energy, protein and/or micronutrient content.

These foodstuffs are an effective means to provide nourishment to large populations at a relatively low cost, and have allowed the development of actions aimed at correcting specific deficiencies.

However, most of these products have to be diluted with water.  Therefore, in view of the fact that the availability of safe water is scarce in most poor urban and rural areas, its use poses a risk of contamination
and infection.

Despite the ideal nature of the nutritional content of many of these “ready to use” preparations dispensed by food programs, their use has negative long-term effects, and discourages the production and consumption of  local foods in infant feeding (1).  Some studies suggest that as a result of this, families tend to have a preference for industrially processed foods, as opposed to those produced locally.

Complementary formulated foods generally have a high sugar content, which induces children to develop a craving for sweets, thus causing serious long-term side effects such as tooth decay, obesity and type 2 diabetes. 

More often than not, studies on the use of these complementary products focus exclusively on their impact on anthropometrical and biochemical indicators, without considering their effect on the sustainability of food security.

Thus, complementary feeding should:

*  Be safe, free of biological, chemical and radioactive pollutants, and also free of genetically modified organisms.
*  Be culturally appropriate
* Be protective of mothers and infants
*  Be continuous and progressive, according to the development and maturity of the recipient
*  Be socially and environmentally sustainable
*  Not represent an excessive workload for the family, and especially for the mother
*  Be a means for early stimulation and not only a method of administering  nourishment
*  Encourage and facilitate the active involvement of parents in their children’s care
*  Create a “positive nourishment mark” with the flavors, textures and colors which may contribute to the development of healthy dietary habits.

For all of these reasons, it is the opinion of the IBFAN network that:
The use of industrially processed foods for complementary feeding:

* Should not interfere with exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and its continuation during the second year of life and beyond.

* Should be considered a temporary measure, until such time as the population’s capacity  is achieved or restored to produce or obtain this food, and the capacity  to provide adequate complementary feeding based on local foods (1).

* Should not act as a substitute for, nor hinder the capacity  of populations to achieve cultural, social and environmentally sustainable food security.

Therefore, complementary feeding programs must incorporate actions and resources to reassess local food
and encourage its production.

Educational actions which accompany complementary feeding programs intended for mothers and relatives of infants under two years of age, should prioritize the information about the preparation and proper administration of local foods (1), including also information on early stimulation.

Families must avoid the use of sugary foods, or foods with textures, colors or flavors which favor the development of unhealthy feeding habits.

Breastfeeding and adequate complementary feeding are essential to exercise the right to nourishment conceived not as a right to food aid, but rather the right to protect or reestablish the capacity for self-support, which is a matter of human dignity, as well as a different vision of the world and its future.

(October, 2006)


(1) Tacking account of the WHA49.15 Resolution: "to ensure that complementary foods are not marketed
for or used in ways that undermine exclusive and sustained breastfeeding;…"