Pediatric Nutrition in Practice

2 Nutrition of Healthy Infants, Children and Adolescents

Key Words

Breastfeeding · Human milk · Lactation · Health

benefits · Preterm infants · HIV, mother-to-child

transmission

Key Messages

• Breastfeeding provides optimal nutrition for infants


• Breastfeeding has significant positive effects on in-
  fant health, growth and development and decreas-
  es the risk of diseases later in life


• Infants should preferably be exclusively breastfed
  for about 6 months and should continually be
  breastfed up to the age of 12 months or beyond


• In most populations, the duration of breastfeeding
  is considerably shorter than recommended. The
  health profession has therefore an important role
  in protecting, promoting and supporting breast-
  feeding © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel

Introduction

Breastfeeding provides optimal nutrition for the
infant and also has many important nonnutri-
tional benefits for the child and the mother [1–
5]. Therefore, it has been recommended by the
WHO and pediatric societies that one should

aim for exclusive breastfeeding of infants for

about 6 months [1, 2]. In industrialized coun-

tries, continued partial breastfeeding up to the

age of 12 months or beyond is the general rec-

ommendation. In populations with high rates of

infectious diseases, breastfeeding during the 2nd

year of life or longer has been shown to reduce

morbidity and mortality, and therefore the rec-

ommendation by the WHO has been to continue

breastfeeding until the age of 24 months or be-

yond. In most populations, the duration of both

exclusive breastfeeding and continued breast-

feeding is considerably shorter, emphasizing the

need to protect, promote and support breast-

feeding via broad public health initiatives and

support from the health care systems. It has been

estimated that, globally, suboptimal breastfeed-

ing may result in more than 800,000 deaths an-

nually [5].

Content of Human Milk

Human milk has about the same energy content

as cow’s milk, while many nutrients important for

growth such as protein, sodium, potassium, mag-

nesium and zinc are present in much lower quan-

Koletzko B, et al. (eds): Pediatric Nutrition in Practice. World Rev Nutr Diet. Basel, Karger, 2015, vol 113, pp 92–96
DOI: 10.1159/000360323

2.1 Breastfeeding

Kim F. Michaelsen