BREAST-FEEDING STILL TOPS IN BABY FEEDING

With the rampant ads on milk formula today, how do you think mothers feed their newborns? Surprisingly, breastfeeding is still generally well known and accepted among mothers and other stakeholders. Moreover, breastmilk was regarded as the most complete natural food for the infant during his first six (6) months of life. This was revealed in a study conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) on the "Knowledge, Attitude and Practices on the Philippine Nutritional Guidelines".

The Nutritional Guidelines were formulated by the Institute to foster an adequate diet as well as desirable food and nutrition practices and healthy habits suitable for the general population. It has five major messages. One of these is "to promote breastfeeding and proper weaning".

The study further reveals that the various respondent-groups were aware that "colostrum is rich in anti-bodies which protect the baby against infection." Mothers, in particular, knew that ‘breastmilk must be given 30 minutes after normal delivery’. They, too, perceived that a mother who is sick, tired or even menstruating could still breatsfeed". These last two concepts, however were least known to food manufacturers.

In terms of attitude, it was generally agreed that breastmilk is best for babies. Following this, program implementors and food manufacturers denied that the nutrient content of milk formula approximates that of breastmilk. Notably, program implementors were glad to see mothers breastfeeding their babies.

Results further showed that practically almost all mothers breastfed their last child. They did so immediately 30 minutes after normal delivery and on demand thereafter. They even fed the colostrum.

With regards to weaning, it was generally understood that solid foods are ideally given at around 4-6 months of the baby. Program implementors and food manufacturers both agreed that it was indeed best to introduce additional foods at about this age. The program implementors actually had always recommended to mothers to do such. The mothers, however, were ambivalent in their attitude towards the introduction of solid foods. An almost similar proportion were both convinced that complementary feeding should start when the baby is 4-6 months old or when he is ready. In actual practice, they introduced solid foods when their children were about 3-4 months old. Program implementors and food manufacturers, on the other hand, believed that complementary foods be introduced when the baby is ready.

These findings suggest the need for nutrition education efforts to put more emphasis on contraindications to breastfeeding and on tips or guidelines in complementary feeding