I wonder about the solids.

20 years ago early introduction of solids was very very common, and it's my
impresseion this was certainly true in the UK, where only shortly postponing
solids is coming 'en vogue' (correct me if i'm wrong). Early solids are in other
English studies linked with obesity. Eg the follow up of the dundee study,
publised in 1998:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7124/21
"Current guidelines in the United Kingdom recommend that babies are exclusively
breast fed for the first 4 months of life, with solids being introduced thereafter

This study found that exclusive breast feeding is associated with a significant
reduction in childhood respiratory illness

The early introduction of solids is associated with increased body fat and weight
in childhood

Exclusive bottle feeding is associated with higher systolic blood pressure in
childhood

Breast feeding and delaying the introduction of solids until after 15 weeks may
have a beneficial effect on childhood health and subsequent adult disease".

I 'm wondering if breastfed babies were even earlier fed solids than formulafed
babies, since many people believed that breastmilk wasn't complete enough. Maybe
UK people on LactNet could shed some light on this?



regards, Annelies Bon
Lay counsellor of the Dutch bf organization "Borstvoeding Natuurlijk"

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