Is 'breast only' for first 6 months best?
Analysis: 6 months of exclusive breast feeding: How good is the evidence?
2011-01-14
(Press-News.org) Current guidance advising mothers in the UK to exclusively breast feed for the first six months of their baby's life is being questioned by child health experts on bmj.com today.
The authors, led by Dr Mary Fewtrell, a consultant paediatrician at the UCL Institute of Child Health in London, have reviewed the evidence behind the current guidance and say the time is right to reappraise this recommendation.
The researchers stress that while they fully back exclusive breast feeding early in life, they are concerned that exclusively doing so for six months and not introducing other foods may not always be in the child's best interests.
In 2001 the World Health Organisation (WHO) made its global recommendation that infants should be exclusively breast fed for the first six months. Many western countries did not follow this recommendation but in 2003 the UK health minister announced that the UK would comply.
Fewtrell and colleagues support six months exclusive breast feeding in less developed countries where access to clean water and safe weaning foods is limited and there is a high risk of infant death and illness. However they have reservations about whether the WHO's guidance about when to introduce other foods is right for the UK.
The WHO's recommendation that mothers should breast feed exclusively for six months is largely based on a systematic review undertaken in 2000 that considered existing research in this area, say the authors. This review concluded that exclusively breast fed babies have fewer infections and that the babies experience no growth problems.
Dr Fewtrell argues that the evidence that breast milk alone provides sufficient nutrition for six months is questionable. She says there is a higher risk of iron deficiency anaemia if babies are exclusively breast fed and that there could also be a higher incidence of celiac disease and food allergies if children are not introduced to certain solid foods before six months.
The authors also fear that prolonged exclusive breast feeding may reduce the window for introducing new tastes, particularly bitter taste which may be important in the later acceptance of green leafy vegetables. This could encourage unhealthy eating in later life and lead to obesity, they say.
Fewtrell and colleagues conclude that it is time to review the UK's guidance in the light of the evidence that has built up on this issue over the last ten years.
INFORMATION: END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2011-01-14
Simply taking more steps every day not only helps ward off obesity but also reduces the risk of diabetes, finds a study published on bmj.com today.
While several studies have shown that physical activity reduces body mass index and insulin resistance - an early stage in the development of diabetes - this is the first study to estimate the effects of long-term changes in daily step count on insulin sensitivity.
A popular guideline is to do 10,000 steps every day, though a more recent recommendation is 3,000 steps, five days a week.
The research, by the Murdoch Childrens ...
2011-01-14
COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research shows that oncolytic viruses, which are engineered to destroy cancer cells, might be more effective in treating deadly brain tumors if equipped with an enzyme that helps them penetrate the tumor.
The enzyme, called chondroitinase, helps the cancer-killing virus clear its way through the thickets of protein molecules that fill space between cells and impede the virus's movement through the tumor, say researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute ...
2011-01-14
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The inhibition or removal of an enzyme may prevent or treat ischemic retinopathy by stalling growth of unwanted vessels in the retina, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.
Ischemic retinopathy is characterized by uncontrolled formation of new blood vessels in the retina, and is seen in diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity. While this blood vessel formation, called neovascularization, can benefit ischemic heart disease and wound healing, it is bad in the retina, where new vessels are dysfunctional and bleed, usually ...
2011-01-14
PHILADELPHIA—Researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson and two other institutions have discovered new evidence that suggests the "longevity" protein SIRT1, known for its life-spanning effects in different species, can inhibit the development of a known precursor to prostate cancer, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN).
Results from the study could lead to new cancer prevention drugs that could not only block prostate cancer but promote longevity.
The study, published in the February 1 issue of Cancer Research, found that deletion of the Sirt1 gene ...
2011-01-14
A new study from North Carolina State University highlights a major flaw in attempting to use a single survey question to assess public opinion on science issues. Researchers found that people who say that risks posed by new science fields outweigh benefits often actually perceive more benefits than risks when asked more detailed questions.
"We set out to determine whether we can accurately assess public opinion on complex science issues with one question, or if we need to break the issue down into questions on each of the issue's constituent parts," says Dr. Andrew Binder, ...
2011-01-14
What is it that makes you want to return to a restaurant again and again?
The food? The service? Atmosphere?
Sure.
But according to research spearheaded by John Antun, associate professor in the Department of Retail, Hospitality and Tourism and director of the Culinary Institute at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Robert E. Frash Jr., chair of the HRT department at the College of Charleston (S.C.), there are two more factors that must be added to mix: the social experience and the availability of healthy menu options.
Antun and Frash Jr. collaborated ...
2011-01-14
GALVESTON, Texas — A new study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston reveals that the prevalence of hypertension in older Mexican-Americans living in the Southwest region of the United States has increased slightly in the last decade.
Researchers suspect the rise is due, in part, to the increase in diabetes and obesity.
Although hypertension, or high blood pressure, is one of the most common diseases in the United States, affecting more than 72 million Americans, it is one of the most manageable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. ...
2011-01-14
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A new fractional vortex state observed in an unconventional superconductor may offer the first glimpse of an exotic state of matter predicted theoretically for more than 30 years. In a paper published in the January 14 issue of Science, University of Illinois physicists, led by Raffi Budakian, describe their observations of a new fractional vortex state in strontium ruthenium oxide (SRO). Such states may provide the basis for a novel form of quantum computing in which quantum information is encoded in the topological properties of a physical system.
"We've ...
2011-01-14
COLUMBIA, Mo. – U.S. agricultural practices create 58 percent of nitrous oxide in the world, which is the third most prevalent greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Scientists believe nitrous oxide contributes to global warming about 300 times more than carbon dioxide. New practices and products have been introduced to address this issue, but farmers do not have the time or profit margins to experiment with ideas that may ultimately hurt the "bottom line." Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found methods to help farmers reduce those emissions while also increasing ...
2011-01-14
AMES, Iowa – Advancements in understanding rotational motion in living cells may help researchers shed light on the causes of deadly diseases, such as Alzheimer's, according to Ning Fang, an associate scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and faculty member at Iowa State University.
In an article entitled "Resolving Rotational Motions of Nano-objects in Engineered Environments and Live Cells with Gold Nanorods and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy" published in the November 2 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Is 'breast only' for first 6 months best?
Analysis: 6 months of exclusive breast feeding: How good is the evidence?
