Dear Kathy and Lactnetters,
I appreciate your input on this, Kathy  - but why do I have the resolutions
from May 1994 from WHO stating directly "about six months" .  I guess I
feel that in my part of the world babies are not in the extreme situations
of poverty although we do hear too often of mothers who are bottlefeeding
who can't afford formula and resort to using evaporated milks or other
unsuitable alternatives.  Occasionally we see babies who are not growing
adequately at the breast and would definitely require formula supplements
at any stage or possibly  solids at 4 months - I would hope that this would
always be assessed on an individual basis.  I still see it as very
important to encourage exclusive breastfeeding for most infants to about
six months to families and health care professionals as general
recommendations based on the WHO resolutions ( WHA 47.5 2(1) d: passed on
May 9th, 1994 and circulated on official WHO letterhead)   to the 1979
original statement?  Because I see too many healthy babies (in affluent
Canadian families) weaned off the breast as a direct result of early
introduction of solids and too much solids given too quickly and a
significant number of infants developing allergies/sensitivities to this
early introduction of solids and subsequent reduction of breastmilk intake
which many times results in early weaning from the breast.   We need to be
advocates for exclusive breastfeeding to about six months, always aware
that there will always be exceptions.  Should we not be quoting this WHA
statement from May 9th, 1994?
Maureen Fjeld, IBCLC
Director, Calgary Breastfeeding Center
Co-chair, Breastfeeding Committee for Canada
----------
> From: Kathy Dettwyler <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: confusion about WHO
> Date: April 3, 1998 5:54 PM
>
> >In conclusion, it is important for us all to cease referring to
introducing
> >solids between 4-6 months and refer to "about six months with continued
> >breastfeeding for 24 months or beyond" to adequately quote the updated
WHO
> >recommendations.
>
> James Akre of the World Health Organization states (as of 3 April 1998)
that
> the WHO has NOT changed its recommendation from "4 to 6 months" to "about
6
> months," despite the wording of the above statement.  There has been a
lot
> of confusion about this for the past two years, but the original 1979 WHO
> recommendations still stand as official policy.  Remember that they refer
to
> children all around the world, and the 4 month end of the range refers to
> children in adverse environmental circumstances (poverty, lots of
disease).
> I can ask him to post directly to LactNet if people would like.
>
> Katherine A. Dettwyler