LLLI Center for Breastfeeding Information

Journal Abstract of the Month for July 2003

"Infant growth and health outcomes associated with 3 compared with 6 mo of exclusive breastfeeeding."

Authors: Michael S Kramer, Tong Guo, Robert Platt, Zinaida Sevkovskya, Irina Dzikovich, Jean-Paul Collet, Stanley Shapiro, Beverley Chalmers, Ellen Hodnett, Irina Vanilovich, Irina Mezen, Thierry Ducruet, George Shishko & Natalia Bogdanovich.

Am J Clin Nutr 2003;78:291-295

In a comparison of 2862 infants exclusively breastfed for 3 months (who continued breastfeeding with a mixed diet) with 621 infants who were exclusively breastfed for six months (all from Belarus), minor differences in growth were noted which did not persist beyond 12 months. The major benefit associated with exclusive breasteeding for 6 months was a significant reduction in the risk of gastrointestinal infections. The epidemiologic evidence is now overwhelming that even in developed countries, breastfeeding protects against gastrointestinal and to a lesser degree respiratory infection, and that the protective effect is enhanced with greater duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding.

The World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and the American Academy of Pediatrics are three organizations which now recommend that infants be breastfed exclusively for six months.

This article will be categorized with the following keywords: Exclusive Breastfeeding, Advantages, Gut, Professional Attitudes, Growth, Gut, WHO, Belarus.