My name is Janaies Joseph and I am a nursing student at the University
of North Dakota. I was born to culture where most women breastfeed
their babies and it is common practice to breastfeed their children
until they are two years of age or older. I myself was breastfed till
I was four years old.
It is known that breastfeeding can be beneficial to the child
in many ways. One of the benefits of breastfeeding is immune
protection for the child. Most children’s immune system is not up to
par until they are six or seven years of age (Michaels, 2001, pp.31).
Continuing to breastfeed children after the first year can be
beneficial to the child. They can continue to receive immunoglobulin
from the mother, which gives them the protection to fight off
diseases. Children who continue to be breastfed have been found to be
sick less often, and those children who do become sick the length and
severity is reduced.
A study was conducted on long-term breastfeeding by Buckley,
Lubetzky, Mandel, Mimouni (2001) to assess the growth of children who
were breastfed beyond the first year of life. The study compared
breastfed children to children who were non-breastfed. Their goal for
the study was to determine whether long term breastfeeding was
nutritionally beneficial for the child. Their study concluded that
children who were breastfed exclusively beyond the first year, their
growth for height and weight fell below the 50 percentile on the
growth chart. They also found that children who were non-breastfed
only met 77% of their RDA. Their study concluded that in order meet
100% RDA for a child 1 to 3 years of age, they need an additional 300
kcal from breast milk in addition to their regular diet.
Another study was conducted by Barak (2005) to determine the
benefits of fat and energy contents of breast milk in prolonged
breastfeeding. This study found that children who were breastfed for
more than one year had a significantly higher fat and energy content
(up to 28% more). Their study found that children who were
exclusively breastfed or those children who ate solid foods
exclusively did not get adequate nutrition. Therefore, children who
are beginning to eat solid foods also needs to be continued to be
breastfed to have adequate nutrition, especially to obtain adequate
fat and energy (Barak et. all, 2005).
As professionals, do you see many children being breastfed
after the first year of life and if so, are there many health benefits
to breastfeeding children after the first year of life?
References
Buckley, K. M. (2001). Long-Term Breastfeeding: Nourishment or
Nurturance?. J Hum Lact 17(4), 304-312.
Barak, S., Lubetzky, R., Mandel, D., Mimouni, F. B. (September 2005).
Fat and Energy Contents of Expressed Human Breast Milk in Prolonged
Lactation. Pediatrics 116, 432-435.
Michaels, D. L. (2001). Breastfeeding Annual International 2001.
Patypus Media: Washington, DC. Pp.28-29.
***********************************************
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|