1. Growth patterns of breast-fed infants in affluent (United States) and poor (Peru) communities: implications for timing of complementary feeding
- Author
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Dewey, Kathryn G., Peerson, Janet M., Heining, M. Jane, Nommsen, laurie A., Lonnerdal, Bo, Lopez de Romana, Guillermo, de Kanashiro, Hilary Creed, Black, Robert E., and Brown, Kenneth H.
- Subjects
Infants -- Food and nutrition ,Children -- Growth ,Breast feeding -- Physiological aspects ,Food/cooking/nutrition ,Health - Abstract
We compared growth, dietary intake, and morbidity of infants breast-fed for [is greater than or equal to] 12 mo from two populations: Davis, CA (n = 46) and Huascar, Peru (n = 52). When compared against WHO reference data (based primarily on formula-fed infants), Huascar infants appeared to falter as early as 3-4 mo, but when compared with Davis breast-fed infants, the curves for weight and length were very similar in girls until 10-12 mo and in boys until 6-9 mo. Thereafter, Huascar infants grew less rapidly than did Davis infants. Breast milk intake was very similar between groups, but in Huascar the amount and nutrient density of complementary foods consumed after 6 mo were lower and morbidity rates were much higher than in Davis. These results indicate that growth faltering of Huascar infants, when judged against breast-fed infants in the United States, occurs primarily after the first 6 mo of life and is not due to poor lactation performance. Am J Clin Nutr 1992;56:1012-8.
- Published
- 1992