AGE AT BREAST-FEEDING START AND POSTNEONATAL GROWTH AND SURVIVAL

Colostrum has important anti-infective properties. It may also somehow promote the development of the child's immunological system. Discardi ng colostrum, as practised in some cultures, could thus have adverse h ealth consequences beyond the neonatal period. To test this hypothesis , the age at breast feeding start of 734 healthy newborns in urban Gui nea-Bissau was ascertained. The children were then prospectively follo wed up to 3 years of age. Eighty nine deaths occurred during the study . The probability of death in the age interval 28 days to 3 years was about 20%. The child's age at breast feeding start had no statistical impact on postneonatal growth or survival. As a single measure, early breast feeding start is not likely to make much difference for the lon g term growth or survival of children living under material poverty co nditions.