Weaning has been recognized as a dangerous process in many developing countries since Ceciley Williams described kwashiorkor in 1935. The term weaning has been described as ambiguous by David Morley and should be avoided because "the following two meanings are possible: (a) It is equivalent to the French 'sevrage' i.e. cessation of breast feeding; (b) the time or period in which solid foods or ...

Female savanna baboons (Papio cynocephalus) had a longer postpartum amenorrhea and thereafter cycled longer before conceiving if their previous infant survived than if that infant died. Among mothers of surviving infants, differences in maternal care produced differences in age of weaning and age of independence but did not result in differences in interbirth intervals.

CONTEXT Most studies of infant diet and later body composition focus on milk feeding; few consider the influence of variations in the weaning diet. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to examine how variations in milk feeding and the weaning diet relate to body composition at 4 yr. STUDY POPULATION A total of 536 children participating in a prospective birth cohort study. DESIGN Diet was assessed...

BACKGROUND The increasing ethnic diversity in the United States necessitates a study of variations in infant feeding patterns among ethnic groups. This study was conducted as part of Hawaii's surveillance system to identify infant feeding patterns in Hawaii; specifically, to identify factors influencing duration of breastfeeding among ethnically diverse mothers. METHODS All women who delivere...

Abstract The relationship between infant and child feeding practices early mortality is difficult to address in past societies. Here, stable carbon (δ 13 C) nitrogen 15 N) isotope measurements of bulk bone sequential dentine samples deciduous second and/or permanent first molars four younger children, one older child, late adolescent, two young adults ( n = 8) from Moro de Alins cave, north-eas...

9 10 Abstract Infanticide by males is common in mammalian 11 species such as primates in which lactation lasts much 12 longer than gestation. It frequently occurs in one-male 13 groups following male takeovers and is likely a male 14 reproductive strategy. Reported female countertactics 15 include abrupt weaning of infants, dispersal, or paternity 16 confusion. Here, we estimated costs of femal...

It is not known what constitutes an optimal diet in infancy. There are relatively few studies of weaning practice in the UK, and there is a need for prospective data on the effects of infant diet and nutrition on health in later life. We describe the dietary patterns, defined using principal components analysis of FFQ data, of 1434 infants aged 6 and 12 months, born between 1999 and 2003. The t...

Background: Commercially produced infant food has a different taste profile and nutritional content to homemade baby food and its consumption is now very widespread. This change in early food experience may lead to a reduced dietary variety and a decreased microbial load exposure. Objective: The purpose of this study was to gain insight into parental perceptions of complementary feeding, specif...

Studies of infant-feeding practices I abound in the recent anthropological literature, spurred by an interest in maternal and child health and by the infant formula controversy. The focus has been on the determinants of infant-feeding patterns and the nutritional effects of these patterns. These studies have looked at such variables as breastfeeding and weaning practices, the age when solid foo...

This study describes infant feeding practices among mothers from two European regions from the perspective of early sensory experiences. Two groups of mothers, one in Dijon , France (n=139), the other in Aalen , Germany (n=157) with infants aged 4-9 months were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Clear between- and within-group differences in weaning practices were found, particularly...