Abstract
Observations that exclusive breastfeeding in the early months of life, extended partial breastfeeding and transition to high quality non-breast milk foods have biological benefits are unsurprising from an evolutionary perspective. Nevertheless, in order to ascertain the optimal timing of components of the human weaning process, one must adopt a rigorous comparative biomedical approach. Most research on human milk and lactation therefore uses evidence-based methods and clinical outcomes to quantify the effects of different “doses” of breastfeeding (“none”, “exclusive”, “partial”, “extended”, etc.) and to identify the nutritional, immunological and endocrinological mechanisms mediating such effects. Comparisons among groups of children exposed to different patterns of breastfeeding and complementary feeding show that only some patterns maximize growth and development, energy and nutrient intakes in relation to estimated requirements, and survival for the normal, healthy child.
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Sellen, D.W. (2002). Sub-Optimal Breast Feeding Practices: Ethnographic approaches to building “Baby Friendly” communities. In: Davis, M.K., Isaacs, C.E., Hanson, L.Å., Wright, A.L. (eds) Integrating Population Outcomes, Biological Mechanisms and Research Methods in the Study of Human Milk and Lactation. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 503. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0559-4_26
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0559-4_26
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