Abstract
It has been argued that the growth rate of exclusively breast-fed infants may be limited by their protein intake. This issue was examined using data from an intervention study in Honduras in which infants were randomly assigned to be exclusively breast-fed for the first 6 mo (EBF; n = 50), or to receive preprepared solid foods (including egg yolk) in addition to breast milk beginning at 4 mo (n = 91). Neither weight gain nor length gain from 4 to 6 mo differed between groups despite a 20% higher protein intake (as well as significantly higher intakes of iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin A, and riboflavine) in the latter group. The 20 infants with the highest protein intakes in that group were matched to 20 EBF infants on the basis of energy intake; protein intake was 1.46 ± 0.09 versus 1.10 ± 0.17 g/kg/d, respectively (p < 0.001), but growth rate did not differ between groups. Similarly, the 20 infants with the lowest protein intakes in the EBF group were matched (by energy intake) to 20 infants given solid foods; protein intake was very low in the former compared with the latter (0.81 ± 0.13 versus 1.04 ± 0.20 g/kg/d;p < 0.001), yet there was still no difference in growth. Infant morbidity was relatively low and did not influence the results. These analyses indicate that protein intake is not likely to be a limiting factor with regard to growth of breast-fed infants from 4 to 6 mo of age.
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Abbreviations
- EBF:
-
exclusively breast-fed
- SF:
-
solid food
- SF-M:
-
solid food with maintenance of breast-feeding frequency
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Honduran research team for their dedicated work on the project, to the La Leche League/Honduras staff and the Ministry of Health/Honduras for their cooperation, and to the mothers of San Pedro Sula for their willingness to participate in the study. Rafael Perez-Escamilla and Laurie Rivers provided invaluable assistance in analyzing the milk samples.
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Supported jointly by the Thrasher Research Fund; the World Health Organization; UNICEF/Honduras; and the Institute for Reproductive Health(formerly the Institute for International Studies in Natural Family Planning), Georgetown University, under a Cooperative Agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (A.I.D.) (DPE-3040-A-00-5064-00 and DPE-3061-A-00-1029-00). The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the views of these institutions. Complementary foods were provided at reduced cost by Gerber Products Company.
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Dewey, K., Cohen, R., Rivera, L. et al. Do Exclusively Breast-Fed Infants Require Extra Protein?. Pediatr Res 39, 303–307 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199602000-00019
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199602000-00019
