FROM: Sturgess, Frances Coulter
TO:[log in to unmask]
SUBJECT: solids/allergens
DATE: 03-04-97   16:09 EST
PRIORITY:


re: solids--one term for infant food other than "milk" is beikost (!) and I
thought we were talking about that rather than the physical state ie
consistency of the introduced item.  As to no ill effects, the arguments I;ve
seen refer as much to developmental issues (readiness, ability to swallow
without a nipple/tongue thrust) as to allergic ones, and then there's the
whole business of nutrient balance.  Granted, these little humans   ;,) like
all of us, are incredibly tolerant of a variety of insults, and survive them,
(why the RDAs are a range, not an absolute indicator of how much vit b,c,d,
etc any one person needs).

However, giving cornflour or other starches changes the calorie to nutrient
ratio, fills the kid up, potentially, without getting the benefit of as much
"milk" (and nutrients) as he would otherwise consume, and leaves him wide open
for contaminants that could get added in the process.

I guess I need to get the quoted article re: no evidence for problems  with
cultural intro of beikost as early as one month and see if it endorses doing
it or looks at it as "need more info".  Otherwise couldn't we also say "no
harm in giveing ABM" that early too?  I have also heard from my patient care
cohorts that they see an awful lot of "fat" babies who are being forcefed
cereal to the point of compromised mobility and breathing in some of our
poorer populations, "fat" babies being perceived as "healthier"  (and this is
20lbs at 2 months, folks--and "forcefed" is cereal in the bottle--can't get
your milk sweetie unless you take the cereal too):,<

The whole IGA/Immunity business is very interesting, and like food flavors,
may indeed predispose brfed infants to better tolerance of "solid" foods than
ABM--I can't claim any expertise here--but we have also had many concerns
about cow milk allergy, soy allergy etc with the artificial feeds, and to some
extent with mom's diet.  Perhaps the IGA or whatever in moms milk protects the
infant from the proteins in Moms diet--is that what Dr. B's info translates
to? (Whereas there are no competing protective factors in abm OR in beikost
itself, so brfdg might be protective in that sense.)

Reply to: (with inserts for questions)--TIA

"Thanks for your comments . . . I really appreciate them.  As
for data on early introduction of solids predisposing to
allergies, there are no data specifically concerning solids,
and theoretically, I can't think of any reason why solid foods
would be antigenically different from liquid or baby foods!

(I do not either--my concern is Anything besides breast milk or breast milk
substitutes, and I *think* that is the intent of the word "solid" if not the
actual definition)

Most of the studies you cite are relatively old and most of the
literature looks at the incidence of "allergic" symptoms in
breast fed versus formula fed infants.  . .
moreover, in numerous rural cultures solids are introduced in
the first month of life (Hervada and Newman, Current
Problems in Pediatrics, 1992)

(Is the above a journal or a text?  Are there page numbers?)


 and have been for generations
and if anything, their incidence of allergic disease is
dramatically less than in ours.

(How is this incidence measured?  In developing countries is the data that
complete?  Do the infants survive to be tested?)

  There is a recent long-term
study suggesting that prolonged breast feeding (i.e. beyond
six months) lessens the risk of atopic symptoms
independent of whether the child is fed other foods.
Teleologically, early introduction of foreign antigens makes
lots of sense to me.  In fact, many dietary proteins appear in
breast milk intact . . . they are actively transported across
the breast!  This includes numerous cow's milk proteins.
There is much evidence to suggest that foreign antigen
exposure prior to weaning is important in development of
tolerance to foreign antigens, and in fact, atopic disease may
be a break in tolerance! IgA may be important in presenting
foreign dietary antigens