Someone quoted Savage-King as saying:
>a poorly malnourished women is able to produce enough breastmilk to >feed
>her baby but often requires that the baby suckle frequently to >maintain
>supply.

I wonder what they mean by "suckle frequently" -- since it is clear from the
composition of human milk and the suckling frequencies of the non-human
primates that ALL human babies are supposed to be nursing several times an
hour -- how frequent is frequent then, in a malnourished mother?  I do not
think that the frequent suckling seen in developing countries has any
relationship to the nutritional status of the mother.  ALL women require
that their babies nurse frequently in order to maintain good supply --
that's one reason why so many Ezzo moms fail at breastfeeding (or any mother
who is scheduling feeds relatively far apart).

Around the world, in many cultures, babies are carried on their mother's
bodies and suckled very frequently, as many as four times per hour or more
-- and many of these mothers are well-nourished.  Not all Third World or
"developing country" mothers are poorly nourished.  Not by a long shot.
Even in places where young child malnutrition is rampant, the older children
and adults may be perfectly adequately nourished.  The reasons for
malnutrition in children are many and complex, and they include that
children are struggling with many viral diseases, and may also be low on the
priority list for resources within the family.

To read more about this, see my book "Dancing Skeletons" or my articles:

Dettwyler, K.A.  1992  The Biocultural Approach in Nutritional
Anthropology: Case Studies of
Malnutrition in Mali.  Medical Anthropology 15:17-39.

Dettwyler, K.A.  1992  Nutritional Status of Adults in Rural Mali.  American
Journal of Physical Anthropology 88(3):309-321.

Dettwyler, K.A.  1991  Growth Status of Children in Rural Mali: Implications
for Nutrition Education Programs.  American Journal of Human Biology
3(5):447-462.

Dettwyler, K.A.  1989  Styles of Infant Feeding: Parental/Caretaker Control
of Food Consumption in Young Children.  American Anthropologist
91(3):696-703.  September 1989.

Dettwyler, K.A.  1989  The Interaction of Anorexia and Cultural Beliefs in
Infant Malnutrition in Mali.  American Journal of Human Biology
1(6):683-695.
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