breastfeeding

[Guest guest]

Just one reason why formula companies are so evil:

Undernutrition in Poor Indian Children Linked With Shorter

Breastfeeding Duration

DELHI (Reuters Health) Oct 24 - Shorter than average periods of

exclusive breastfeeding lead to

undernutrition at an early age among children living in slums, according

to the results of a study conducted in

Pune, a rapidly growing city in India.

" Slum populations living in adverse conditions represent nutritionally

vulnerable groups that need immediate

attention, " Dr. Shobha Rao and colleagues write in the October issue of

Indian Pediatrics.

Over a 2-year period, Dr. Rao and her team, from the Agharkar Research

Institute, Pune, studied changes

in nutritional status and morbidity in 845 preschool children residing

three Pune slums. The investigators

gathered socioeconomic information, took anthropometric measurements,

made clinical assessments of

nutritional deficiencies and gathered information about recent illnesses

in all the households.

" Socioeconomic information revealed that 44.6% of mothers were

illiterate and 15% had only primary

education, " they report.

The average duration of exclusive breastfeeding was 3.5 months, a

significantly shorter period compared

with rural areas.

The weights and heights of the slum children were satisfactory only up

to the age of 4 months, and fell

significantly below the standards by 6 months of age. During infancy,

22% children were underweight and by

5 years of age more than 40% were underweight. Only 7% of infants were

stunted at baseline, while 35%

were stunted by 5 years. The peak prevalence of malnutrition was around

18 months of age, a younger age

than reported in previous studies.

Dr. Rao's group suggests that the decrease in nutritional status after 4

months of age is probably attributable

to the short duration of exclusive breastfeeding and lack of appropriate

supplementary weaning foods.

The researchers also observed that morbidity was higher in the youngest

children and least well-nourished.

Gastrointestinal illness and fever contributed to more than 50% of the

total days of morbidity.

" The observation that malnutrition sets in at an early age and that

younger children experience higher

morbidity, has obvious implications for growth velocity, " note the

researchers.

The height velocity was also significantly lower at 3 years of age among

the slum children compared with

standard values. The lower velocities in early life resulted in heights

below 10 cm of standard values by 5

years of age, the researchers note. " This highlights the importance of

early life undernutrition which may be

responsible for shorter adult size in poor communities of India " , write

the researchers.

" Our study additionally provided data on changes over time in

nutritional status of slum children " , writes Dr.

Rao's group. Up to 50% of the " children below 2 years age further

deteriorated in their nutritional status

during the study period, while most children above 2 years of age

remained in their same grade of nutritional

status. " They conclude that " undernutrition thus sets in at an early

age, which increases risk of infections,

leading to further deterioration of nutritional status, " Dr. Rao's team

concludes.

Indian Pediatr 2000;37:1060-1071.

Copyright © 2000 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.

Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly

prohibited without the prior written consent of

Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the

content, or

for any actions taken in reliance thereon.