Also on Medscape today.  Much more positive than the previous one;-)

Anna Swisher
Austin, TX
-----------------------------------------
Four Months of Exclusive Breast-Feeding Recommended for Low-Birthweight
Infants

DELHI (Reuters Health) Apr 25 - Exclusive breast-feeding in the first 4
months of life prevents diarrhea and produces better weight gain,
researchers in India have confirmed.
Dr. Dipika Sur, of the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases in
Calcutta, and colleagues studied the effect of exclusive breast-feeding in
50 low-birthweight (LBW) neonates from a Calcutta slum. The team defined low
birthweight as less than 2.5 kg.
Fifty neonates with normal birthweight (NBW) served as controls. All infants
were followed up until 4 months of age with weekly visits by health workers.
Weight was measured monthly.
The researchers, writing in the April issue of Indian Pediatrics, report
that by 4 months of age, 76% of LBW infants and 70% of controls had been
exclusively breast-fed. Weight gain in this group, among both NBW and LBW
infants, was significantly more than that in infants who were weaned early.
On average, exclusively breast-fed LBW babies gained over 1 kg more than
those weaned early.
In accordance with results from other parts of the world, the incidence of
diarrhea was eight times less among LBW infants who were exclusively
breast-fed than among those who were weaned early, Dr. Sur's team reports.
Indian Pediatr 2001;38:381-384.

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