BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE In developing countries low maternal vitamin A stores combined with increased demands of pregnancy and lactation may lead to its deficiency in breastfed infants. This study evaluates the effects of maternal supplementation with a high dose of vitamin A on the serum retinol levels of exclusively breastfed infants, and their morbidity in the first six months of life. SE...

Before 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that infants be exclusively breastfed for 4-6 mo with the introduction of complementary foods (any fluid or food other than breast milk) thereafter. In 2001, after a systematic review and expert consultation, this advice was changed, and exclusive breastfeeding is now recommended for the first 6 mo of life. The systematic review commi...

BACKGROUND There is controversy regarding whether hypersensitivity to food proteins contributes to colic among breastfed infants. METHODS A randomized, controlled trial of a low-allergen maternal diet was conducted among exclusively breastfed infants presenting with colic. In the active arm, mothers excluded cow's milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, and fish from their diet; mothers i...

BACKGROUND There is a gap in knowledge on the growth of children exclusively breastfed during the fifth and sixth months of life. This study aimed to assess the growth of infants who were exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life and compare the distributions of anthropometric measures based on the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS, 1977) and World Health Organization (WHO,...

Results: Among infants whose growth was monitored for the previous three months, majority (73.1%) had good weight gain while a low proportion (0.6%) had lost weight. About one quarter (26.3%) of the infants had no change in weight. The study findings showed that almost two-thirds (63.8%) of infants who were exclusively breastfed had good weight gain and only 1 (0.6%) was found to have lost weight.

Background: Breastfeeding has many short-term and long-term health benefits for infants. Short-term include protection against childhood infections mortality in low-income countries. The adult effects usually emphasized are a reduction of excess weight type 2 diabetes. However, there is lack available data on the impact having been breastfed fertility. Indeed, infertility probably multifactoria...