The Breast Is Best, Experts Contend

Breast-fed babies are less likely to suffer from diarrhea and allergies than their bottle-fed peers. They are less inclined to develop asthma or urinary-tract infections, and are less likely to become overweight.

For these reasons and more, experts on infant nutrition are unanimous in recommending breast-feeding as the best possible way to feed a baby unless there are medical complications. In a controversial position paper released in 1997, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised women to breast-feed “for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mutually desired.”

“If you look at the anthropological information, you would see that through most of evolution humans have breast-fed for three years or so,” said Lawrence M. Gartner, chairman of the AAP group studying breast-feeding issues. “The data seems clear that the longer you breast-feed, the greater the benefit to the infant.”

Researchers are also trying to learn what effect breast-feeding might have on cognitive development, but the science is still evolving. According to the AAP, “Breast-feeding has been related to possible enhancement of cognitive development.” But even less clear is how long-term any improvements might be.

The recommendation to breast-feed, however, has come into conflict with the realities of American life, where a majority of women work and the culture remains less than friendly toward women nursing outside their homes.

A study by Ross Products, makers of Similac, found that only 14.5% of infants in 1997 were still being breast-fed after one year.

However, the Ross study did find a general increase in the percentage of women breast-feeding throughout the 1990s. Wealthier and better-educated women have breast-fed the most in recent decades, but Ross found the greatest increase in breast-feeding among women with a grade school or high school education. White mothers are the most likely to nurse their babies, the study found, and black mothers are the least likely.