Breastfeeding is the recommended way of feeding infants for the first six months of life by many health organizations worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding alongside complementary foods for up to two years or beyond. Breastfeeding provides optimal nutrition for infants and has many health benefits for both infants and mothers.
The sooner infants start tasting small amounts of solid food, the sooner they will eat more food and stop breastfeeding. This is demonstrated in a new study conducted by Uppsala University and Sophiahemmet University, in which 1,251 mothers from all over Sweden participated. At the age of four months, nearly half of the infants were given tastings.
“Existing research does not support the idea that introducing early tastings has health benefits for the child or the mother,” says Eva-Lotta Funkquist, Senior Lecturer and midwife and one of the article’s authors. “On the other hand, we know that breastfeeding has many health benefits for both the child and the mother. For example, the child is protected against infections while breastfeeding, and both mother and child have a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases.”
Existing research does not support the idea that introducing early tastings has health benefits for the child or the mother. On the other hand, we know that breastfeeding has many health benefits for both the child and the mother. For example, the child is protected against infections while breastfeeding, and both mother and child have a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Eva-Lotta Funkquist
Since 2011, the Swedish National Food Agency has advised parents that infants as young as four months can be given tiny tastings. In contrast, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding for at least two years or longer. These recommendations apply to all countries around the world, including Sweden, because breastfeeding has been scientifically proven to have significant benefits for both women’s and children’s health.
For the duration of breastfeeding, breast milk contains substances that protect the child from infections such as pneumonia and urinary tract infections. Breast milk also lowers the child’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes later in life. Breastfeeding mothers are less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, or type 2 diabetes.
A new study published in the International Breastfeeding Journal by researchers at Uppsala University and Sophiahemmet University involved 1,251 infants and mothers from all over Sweden. When the mothers completed questionnaires about their child’s food during the first year of life, it was discovered that nearly half of the children in the study, 48%, received tastings as early as the fourth month. The earlier the infants began with tiny tastings, the sooner they began eating larger amounts of solid food. As a result, these children experienced an earlier end to breastfeeding and a shorter duration of breastfeeding.
Previous research has found that nearly all women want to breastfeed their child. Conflicting advice from the WHO and the Swedish National Food Agency, as well as unsupported recommendations, such as tiny tastings, make it more difficult for mothers who want to breastfeed to find support, and only 10% of Swedish children are fully breastfed for six months.
Breastfeeding, according to the United Nations (UN), ensures that the child can be fed safely in the event of war or a crisis, such as a failure of the energy supply or a shortage of baby food. Previous research indicates that following the recommendation of full breastfeeding for six months would save more women’s lives than infants’ lives in Western countries (Bartick MC, et al (2016).
“As a result, it is critical that public authorities in Sweden have recommendations that promote breastfeeding and are consistent with WHO recommendations. Otherwise, mothers will stop breastfeeding earlier, putting both the mother and the child at greater risk of adverse health consequences” Funkquist says.
