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Summarising the health effects of breastfeeding
Author(s) -
GrummerStrawn Laurence M.,
Rollins Nigel
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.13136
Subject(s) - breastfeeding , medicine , breast feeding , psychological intervention , breast milk , pediatrics , environmental health , family medicine , nursing , biochemistry , chemistry
This supplement to Acta Paediatrica presents a series of meta-analyses and systematic literature reviews examining a variety of health effects potentially related to breastfeeding. The authors carefully study a wide breadth of the literature to describe current knowledge on the benefits of breast-feeding or put differently the harms from not breastfeeding and the effectiveness of interventions to promote breastfeeding. Five key messages emerge from the analyses presented. First the health benefits of breastfeeding are substantial. Second it is critical to examine the breadth of the literature on an outcome of interest before drawing any conclusions. Third the mechanisms by which breastfeeding affect health are extremely varied and this variation implies that different metrics of breastfeeding behaviour must be utilised to truly understand the relationships of interest. Fourth many of the articles these meta-analyses are based on suffer from methodological weaknesses that limit the ability to make firm conclusions. Fifth breastfeeding practices are responsive to interventions delivered in health systems communities and homes. The largest effects are achieved when interventions are delivered in combination. (Excerpts) Copyright 2015 The Authors. Open Access.