American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 66, 1102-1109, Copyright © 1997 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Breast milk or animal-product foods improve linear growth of Peruvian toddlers consuming marginal diets

GS Marquis, JP Habicht, CF Lanata, RE Black and KM Rasmussen
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. gmarquis@uab.edu

Although breast-feeding is widely accepted as important for infant health, its benefits during the second year of life have been questioned. We analyzed data from 107 breast-fed and weaned Peruvian children living in a periurban community to determine whether breast milk contributed to improved linear growth between 12 and 15 mo of age. Breast-feeding frequency was self-reported; intakes of complementary foods and animal products were estimated from a food-frequency survey. Multivariate-linear-regression analysis was used to predict the length of the children at 15 mo of age. Determinants of length included length and weight-for-length at 12 mo of age (US National Center for Health Statistics standards), interval between 12- and 15-mo measurements, breast-feeding frequency, incidence of diarrhea, and intakes of complementary and animal-product foods. Complementary foods, animal- product foods, and breast milk all promoted toddlers' linear growth. In subjects with low intakes of animal-product foods, breast-feeding was positively associated (P < 0.05) with linear growth. There was a 0.5- cm/3 mo difference in linear growth between weaned toddlers and children who consumed the average number of feedings of breast milk. Linear growth was also positively associated with intake of animal- product foods in children with low intakes of complementary foods. The negative association between diarrhea and linear growth did not occur in subjects with high complementary-food intakes. When the family's diet is low in quality, breast milk is an especially important source of energy, protein, and accompanying micronutrients in young children. Thus, continued breast-feeding after 1 y of age, in conjunction with feeding of complementary foods, should be encouraged in toddlers living in poor circumstances.

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