There is a committee reviewing our national dietary guidelines for babies,
to determine whether a change is indicated. Current guidelines, which are
rarely followed, call for exclusive BF for 6 months and sustained BFto one
year while introducing solids, continued BF if mother and baby want to,
beyond 12 months. Very vague and wishy washy, IMO.
There has been pressure within the group doing the revision, to actively
discourage exclusive BF more than 4 months, with various bogus arguments,
and the latest of these is being featured all over the news today.
I just heard that one radio station is touting it as 'A new study from
Haukeland [university hospital in Bergen, Norway] shows that babies who are
exclusively breastfed for 6 months have poorer brain development'  (poorer
than what? doesn't say)
Watch for the names Ingrid Torsvik, Anne Lise Bjørke-Monsen, and Trond
Markestad, the authors of this study.
The tabloid newspaper who gave it a huge headline did actually report that
this was a study on Vitamin B 12 levels in children referred to a specialty
clinic because of developmental delays. They found that developmental
delays correlated with low B 12 levels. The babies in the study were 4
months old on average when they were referred to the specialist clinic for
motor delays, reflux, constipation, or 'feeding problems', not specified in
the article. Half of the children referred were exclusively breastfed. The
diet of the others is not described in more detail in the article.
Since we *believe* that at least two thirds of Norwegian 4 month olds are
still exclusively breastfed, they are underrepresented in the study
population, while partially or non-breastfed babies are overrepresented.
Yet the study is presented as proof that exclusive breastfeeding for as
much as four months is a major risk factor for delayed brain development
due to B 12 deficiency. I don't think any of the recommended complementary
foods here in Norway are particularly high in B 12 (rice cereal with
powdered banana, maltodextran, and powdered formula? fruit purees?)
Here's the kicker: They go on to lament the way the 6 month exclusive BF
recommendation makes mothers feel guilty, 'because almost none of them can
manage to exclusively breastfeed that long'.  It didn't occur to the
journalist to ask how, if no one is doing it, this practice is threatening
the health of babies.

The article quotes an official in the directorate of health who calmly
points out that the findings of this single study on non-healthy children
should not dictate the guidelines for nutrition for a healthy population. I
know that there are really wise and ethical scientists involved in the
revision of the guidelines and I'm sure they are celebrating the same way I
am now, tearing out their hair and screaming arrgggh. The working group is
multidisciplinary and there is disagreement within it about the appropriate
duration of exclusive BF for Norwegian babies, since as we all know they
are completely different from babies anywhere else in the world.

Arrrggghhh. I SO do not need these dumbed-down versions of dumb articles in
my life and especially not this week when we're trying to recruit donors to
our local milk bank!!!

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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