Dear Linda Heller,
On your website, you write:
"Most experts today concur that the baby gets the maximum effect of
breast milk if nursed for at least 8 months. These great effects
include a lower incidence of allergies, childhood leukemia, fewer
illnesses like colds, ear infections and flu, less obesity, and more
intelligence. While 8 months to a year is the optimum amount of time
for nursing your little one, any time you can breast feed your baby is
better than not breast feeding at all."
I would respectifully like to inquire what experts you are thinking
of, what references you have for the above statement? The American
Academy of Pediatrics recommends a MINIMUM of 12 months of breastfeeding
and the World Health Organization recommends a MINIMUM of 24 months of
breastfeeding. My research suggests that the "optimum amount of time
for nursing" is between 2.5 years and 7.0 years, based on solid
scientific research. Most children around the world will nurse for 3-5
years if allowed to wean on their own schedule. Research on health and
cognitive outcomes for different durations of breastfeeding shows that
the longer one nurses up to the age of two years, the better the
health/cognitive outcome for the child. There is no research on what
happens after 2 years of age, but there is no reason to expect that the
benefits of breast milk magically cease. If a child develops an
infectious disease at any age, the mother will provide antibodies to
help the child cope with the infection (including survival, as well as
survival with fewer impairments), whether we are talking about
meningitis at 18 months or Hanta virus at 4 years. Since a child's
brain is growing rapidly for the first 6-7 years of life, and
constituents of breast milk (long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids) are
essential components of the human brain, but absent in formula and most
solid foods, continued breastfeeding contributes to normal brain
develop.
If you want your website to carry ACCURATE information, you will
need to change what you say about duration of breastfeeding.
The information about sleeping through the night is also misleading,
as the research of Dr. James McKenna and colleagues has shown that early
sleeping through the night is abnormal and unhealthy for infants, as it
places them at higher risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. You can
find more information about normal sleep behavior in children at my web
site: http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/dettwyler.html
I hope you will rewrite the information on your web page, as
accurate information is an essential part of every mother's right to
informed consent.
Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University
Co-editor of "Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives"
Expert on infant/child feeding, breastfeeding/weaning, child growth and
health
P.S. The link on your website "contact us" has a typo in the server address
(only one "i" on the end of Hawaii) so that email sent directly from the web
site bounces.
***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
