There has been considerable media attention during the past week about research published in the UK about the current public health recommendation for exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. You can read about the research at the following link:
http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5955.full
Media coverage of this research is included at the following link:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/new-breastfeeding-advice-leaves-mothers-angry-and-confused-2185154.html
Please be advised that the World Health Organization has released a statement in relation to the research findings and continues to advise that the global recommendation for infant feeding is: ” WHO’s global public health recommendation is for infants to be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth development and health. Thereafter, infants should be given nutritious complementary foods and continue breastfeeding up to the age of two years.”
In response to the article in the British Medical Journal, the World Health Organization’s Head of Nutrition, Francesco Branca stated:
“WHO’s global public health recommendation is for infants to be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health. Thereafter, infants should be given nutritious complementary foods and continue breastfeeding up to the age of 2 years or beyond.
WHO closely follows new research findings in this area and has a process for periodically re-examining recommendations. Systematic reviews accompanied by an assessment of the quality of evidence are used to review guidelines in a process that is designed to ensure that the recommendations are based on the best available evidence and free from conflicts of interest.
The paper in this week’s BMJ is not the result of a systematic review. The latest systematic review on this issue available in the Cochrane Library was published in 2009 (“Optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding (Review)”, Kramer MS, Kakuma R. The Cochrane Library 2009, Issue 4). It included studies in developed and developing countries and its findings are supportive of the current WHO recommendations.
It found that the results of two controlled trials and 18 other studies suggest that exclusive breastfeeding (which means that the infant should have only breast milk, and no other foods or liquids) for 6 months has several advantages over exclusive breastfeeding for 3-4 months followed by mixed breastfeeding. These advantages include a lower risk of gastrointestinal infection for the baby, more rapid maternal weight loss after birth, and delayed return of menstrual periods. No reduced risks of other infections or of allergic diseases have been demonstrated. No adverse effects on growth have been documented with exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, but a reduced level of iron has been observed in developing-country settings.”
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Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years of age and beyond. At six months babies should be introduced to nutritious complementary foods.