I keep getting these great articles forwarded by Polly Perez on my Doula
list.  Should I keep forwarding relevant ones or is this an improper use of
LACTNET?

Corrine Mahar-Sylvestre
Quinte Doula Service
Postpartum Support Program of Quinte
[log in to unmask]

> 5. SEMINAR RECOMMENDS AGAINST FEEDING COW'S MILK TO INFANTS UNDER 12
MONTHS
> OF AGE
>
> Older infants (infants ages 6 to 12 months) should not be fed cow's milk,
> says Ekhard E. Ziegler, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the
> Fomon Infant Nutrition Unit at the University of Iowa.  Dr. Ziegler
> presented his research findings (which are the result of a study funded by
> the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau [MCHB]) at a Research
> Roundtable seminar held on September 14, 2000, at MCHB in Rockville, MD.
>
> The study examines the relationship between cow's milk consumption during
> infancy and fecal blood loss levels in older infants.  According to Dr.
> Ziegler's research, older infants who are fed cow's milk lose more fecal
> blood than those who are fed breastmilk or infant formula, and this may
> contribute to iron deficiency.  Other research has clearly established
that
> cow's milk causes fecal blood loss in infants younger than 6 months.
>
> This study of normal infants showed that fecal hemoglobin concentration
> increased in older infants when they were fed cow's milk.  Infants who had
> been breastfed before participating in the study showed a more pronounced
> increase in fecal hemoglobin.  However, by the time infants were 12 months
> of age, there was no appreciable increase in their fecal hemoglobin
> concentrations when they were fed cow's milk.
>
> Dr. Ziegler found that the infants' iron nutritional status was not
> measurably affected by cow's milk feeding.  However, this may have been
due
> to the short observation period.  Dr. Ziegler noted that "the present
study
> establishes that fecal blood loss is probably not the main cause, and
> certainly not the only cause, of the poor iron nutritional status
associated
> with cow's milk feeding in infancy.  Whether the main cause is impairment
of
> absorption of dietary iron remains to be established.  Regardless of the
> mechanism involved, the fact that cow's milk feeding affects iron
> nutritional status negatively, coupled with concern about the high
potential
> renal solute load of cow's milk, argues in favor of retaining the general
> recommendation that cow's milk not be fed during the first year of life."
>
> Ziegler EE.  Adverse effects of cow milk in infants. Seminar held at the
> Maternal and Child Health Bureau in Rockville, MD.

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