Paul and Annabel write:
>  The study concentrates on Guatemala and mentions high
>>protein dietary supplements as improving scores in cognitive areas, such as
>>vocabulary.
>>
>>In general, the article is very good, but I/we have one MAJOR criticism :- to
>>wit, there is not one mention of BF and what that could do to give babies a
>>better start.  We would welcome comments from anyone who has also read this
>>article and who is better qualified to comment.


Paul and Annabel -- thanks for the tip on the Scientific American article --
I will go out and get it.  Probably it doesn't mention bf because almost all
the babies in question ARE breastfed, and it is the lack of appropriate,
clean, nutritious supplementary foods that leads to malnutrition and disease
and eventual cognitive impairment.  That's usually the case in most third
world countries -- the babies do great until the latter part of their first
year, and malnutrition and mortality peak at 2-3 years.  The breast milk is
often the only protein these kids are receiving.



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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email: [log in to unmask]
Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352