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Wed, 6 Sep 1995 10:10:50 CET |
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Rosemarie Allain talked in her post of 5 Sept about a
grandmother whose <goal was to breastfeed for a 4 month
period as recommended by the WHO code at that time>. For
information, the International Code of Marketing of
Breast-milk Substitutes, which was adopted in 1981, does not
really address the question of breast-feeding duration.
Rather, it provides a framework for ensuring the appropriate
marketing and distribution of breast-milk substitutes. WHO
recommends that infants should be fed exclusively on breast
milk from birth to 4 to 6 months of age; that is, they
should receive no other liquids or solids than breast milk,
not even water, during this period. Children should
continue to be breast-fed for up to 2 years of age or
beyond, while receiving nutritionally adequate and safe
complementary foods. Starting complementary feeding too
early or too late are *both* undesirable. Ideally, the
decision when precisely to begin will be made by a mother,
in consultation with her health worker, based on her
infant's specific growth and development needs.
Jim Akre
Technical Officer, Nutrition
World Health Organization
Geneva, Switzerland
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