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