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Breastfeeding – a Way to a Healthy Life

In: Science

Submitted By hannav
Words 1851
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Breastfeeding – no introduction necessary
The focus of this review paper is on presenting and substantiating common knowledge and beliefs with scientific research and facts to demonstrate the advantages of breast milk feeding in early stages of human life and in years that follow. Discussion of non-scientific, i.e. social, economic, etc., aspects of breastfeeding will be limited, with primary focus given to human health outcomes for infants and mothers. The structure of this paper is decisively unconventional: where the author has chosen to discuss the body of common knowledge about breastfeeding before delving into the scientific research review. The intention is to draw the readers’ attention to the vast body of proven and observed advantages of breastfeeding for infant and mothers.
Breastfeeding advantages – more than just food
Breastfeeding is a natural process. Throughout human history breastfeeding was, and in many places around the world still is, a means to a healthy start to a human life. With the development of baby formula, and its availability, and relatively low cost, breastfeeding is now commonly thought to be a choice in the developed world. No longer a means to survival, no longer a requirement. To some, the advent of the baby formula is a direct form of feminine liberation. To others, baby formula is a necessity for medical or circumstantial reasons that are not driven by the freedom of choice. Those that choose the formula under pretenses other than necessity (e.g. absence of mother’s milk), are making a wrong choice.
The advantages of breast milk are numerous. The most important one is that breast milk contains the perfect proportion of nutrients that the baby needs, including proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and calcium. This nutrients, such as proteins, are more easily digestible than in formula. This is beneficial for babies in a way that

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