Despite many years of widespread international recommendations to support exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, common hospital feeding and birthing practices do not coincide with the necessary steps to support exclusive breastfeeding. These common hospital practices can lead to the infant receiving formula in the first weeks of life despite mothers' dedication to exclusivel...

Knowledge and attitudes towards infant feeding among women in northern Thailand were examined. Face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires were undertaken in three districts of Chiang Rai province. Subjects included postnatal women with HIV infection (group 1, n=80), antenatal women with HIV infection (group 2, n=36) and antenatal women with unknown HIV status (group 3, n=86). Advan...

The early years of the 20th century were notable for improvements in general sanitation, dairying practices and milk handling. Most infants were breast-fed, often with some formula feeding as well. Availability of the home icebox permitted safe storage of milk and infant formula, and by the 1920s, feeding of orange juice and cod liver oil greatly decreased the incidence of scurvy and rickets. U...

BACKGROUND Early-life soy phytoestrogen exposure has been shown in Eker rats to increase uterine fibroid incidence in adulthood. Two large epidemiologic cohorts have provided some support for increased fibroid risk with infant soy formula feeding in women, but both cohorts relied on self-report of clinically diagnosed fibroids. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the relationship between infant soy formul...

BACKGROUND The relation between infant feeding and growth has been extensively evaluated, but studies examining the volume of formula milk consumption on infant growth are limited. This study aimed to examine the effects of early feeding of larger volumes of formula on growth and risk of overweight in later infancy. METHODS In total, 1093 infants were studied prospectively. Milk records colle...

OBJECTIVE To examine the associations of substance fed and mode of breast milk delivery with occurrence of otitis media and diarrhea in the first year of life. STUDY DESIGN At 12 months postpartum, women (n = 813; 62% response) completed a questionnaire that assessed sociodemographics, infant occurrence of otitis media and diarrhea, and the timing of starting/stopping feeding at the breast, e...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of public hospitals in Hong Kong not accepting free infant formula from manufacturers on in-hospital formula supplementation rates and breast-feeding duration. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING In-patient postnatal units of four public hospitals in Hong Kong. SUBJECTS Two cohorts of breast-feeding mother-infant pairs (n 2560). Cohort 1 (n 1320) w...

China has become the largest market of infant formula in the world. The consumption of infant formula is widespread across the country. This study investigated the opinions of Chinese mothers on infant formula. A prospective cohort study (n=695) was undertaken in 2011 in Sichuan province of China two years after the melamine scandal. Infant-feeding practices and mothers' opinions on infant form...