According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, babies should be exclusively breastfed for about the first 6 months of life, meaning no additional foods or fluids unless medically indicated. Babies should then continue to breastfeed for a year, or however long the mother or baby desire. Most people do not understand the importance of breastfeeding mainly because they are unaware of the benefits of breast milk. Research shows a significant correlation between breastfeeding and intelligence, such as a higher IQ. Researchers are not sure whether breastfeeding causes a higher intelligence or if it is just an association.
Long-term benefits1 of breastfeeding for a child’s cognitive health may result from the fact that maternal milk is a rich source of fatty acids and other bioactive components essential for the brain development of infants. Breast milk is ideally the perfect food for infants. The carbohydrate in breast milk is lactose which enhances calcium absorption and is easy for the infant to digest. The content of calcium in breast milk is ideal for infant bone growth. It also helps protect the infant from infection by preventing the binding of pathogens. The lipids in breast milk is the infant’s main source of energy. It contains the most abundant fatty acid in the brain called DHA, which is also present in the retina of the eye. Studies show that DHA during development can increase cognitive function. Part of one of the reasons infants who are breastfed have a higher intelligence. The protein lactoferrin in breast milk helps absorb iron into the infant’s bloodstream, keeps intestinal bacteria from getting enough iron to grow out of control, and kills certain bacteria. Breast milk contains certain nutrients that helps protec...
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... diabetes. Formula also increases the chance that the baby will develop allergies as well as ear infections and puts them at risk for asthma along with many other infections.
The decision to breastfeed2 is an early decision made by the mother that may have important benefits for a child's later cognitive and behavioral functioning. It is proven from a number of studies that children who were breast-fed as an infant perform higher on IQ tests and cognitive functioning than children who were strictly bottle-fed. One research found a difference in how the brain actually looks and developed in the adolescent years of a breast-fed and a bottle-fed child. Rather than just an increase in a score on an IQ test, brain imaging studies reveal increased white matter and sub-cortical gray matter volume, as well as parietal lobe cortical thickness, which is associated with IQ.
“Commercially prepared infant formulas are a nourishing alternative to breast milk, and even contains vitamins and nutrients that breastfed infants need to get from supplements (Pearl, E., 2015). Breastfeeding is proven to strengthen the immune system for children of all ages. While a mother nurses the infant, the mother passes down nutrients and antibodies from the milk the babies drink while nursing. Like immunizations building invulnerabilities for people destructive illnesses, breast milk gives additional antibodies to infants to help them. Nursing sessions are less demanding to retain and process the formula since it contains living development elements, hormones, and chemicals which help an infant to effectively process all healthy intake from each feeding (The Office on Women’s Health, 2012). Further, in creating nations, scientists found that for newborn children who were not breastfed have danger of dying from irresistible infections, in the primary month is six times more prominent than babies who were breastfed (Chen and Rogan, 2004). Children that are breastfed have less problems with digestive systems due to the breast milk, a standout amongst the most essential advantages of breast milk is the containing living parts, for example, contamination battling antibodies, white platelets, red platelets, and hostile to viral components (Taylor, 2013). All which are essential to the growth of a newborn's digestive system that formula does not
Holistic nutrition is increasingly becoming popular in healthcare practice due to the growing detoxification culture amongst the people with the aim of improving individual health. Consumption of toxic elements toxifies the body, the consumption of processed food products is the primary cause of diseases amongst the people. There is increased use of Holistic Nutrition by both healthy people and people with health conditions with the aim of achieving optimum body function and health. The increased use of holistic nutrition in the community improves health outcomes and reduces poor health outcomes that are caused by poor lifestyle choices of using processed food products. Holistic nutrition provides a natural approach of ensuring positive health
Breastfeeding is when a woman feeds her child from her breast. Breastfeeding has been around since before the 15th century. In addition to strengthening the bond between a mother and her baby, breastfeeding offers a number of benefits for both a mother and her child. Babies who are breastfed have lower risk of meningitis, various cancers, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, bacterial and viral infections, childhood leukemia, allergies and obesity. Mothers have a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancer, as well as osteoporosis. All mothers no matter where they are weather it be the mall, park, restaurant, or just out running errands need to have their right to breastfeed protected.
There many advantages to breastfeeding! Research shows that breastfed infants have fewer and shorter episodes of illness. The nutrition provided by breastmilk benefits the baby’s IQ. The skin-to-skin contact encouraged by breastfeeding offers babies greater emotional security and enhances bonding. Breastfeeding appears to reduce the risk of obesity and hypertension for the infant later in life. Breastfeeding delays the onset of hereditary allergic disease, and lowers the risk of developing allergic disease. Breastfeeding helps the baby’s immune system mature, protecting the baby in the meantime from viral, bacteria, and parasitic infections. Breastfeeding protects against developing chronic diseases such as: celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, and childhood cancers. (Shinskie and Lauwers, 2002)
By remaining exclusive to human milk, the premature infant has an increase in benefits and outcomes. This change in recommendation is due to the benefits of human milk which include “decreased rates of late-onset of sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, retinopathy, sudden infant death syndrome, fewer re-hospitalizations in the first year of life, and improved neurodevelopmental outcomes.” (Underwood, M. A.). Due to an underdeveloped gastrointestinal tract, it is shown that preterm infants require smaller amounts of human milk than a full-term baby. It is crucial to teach mothers of preterm infants, that the colostrum or milk they produce is sufficient. If the mother does not produce enough milk, she should be directed to a donor human milk bank or talk to a lactation consultant. Nevertheless, it is crucial nurses emphasize the importance of reducing formula feeding and implement exclusive
Breastfeeding is a highly debated topic amongst mothers across the world. Every mother has the choice to breastfeed or bottle fed their infant. Although everyone is entitled to their own opinion and choice, it is scientifically proven that breast milk is more beneficial for the infant’s health and development and the mother. Breast milk contains extremely beneficial vitamins and nutrients and also has the ability to change according to the infant’s growth and development. Formula companies try to mock breast milk to the best they can, although it cannot be completely composed the same. “Breastfeeding offers immunological and allergy protection to the infant, is economical and convenient as it is always fresh and the right temperature, and provides a great opportunity for the mother and infant to bond” (p. 1052, Potter & Perry, 2011). Research has proven that breast milk is the most
Education plays a dominant role in the lives of students all over the United States. Since most students spend roughly eight to twelve hours in school, it is important to make sure that they are provided with a healthy and nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack.
Throughout this reading the intention is to educate that breast milk provides the perfect nutrition and great brain development. Second, the cost and savings of breast milk will be mentioned. Third, some benefits of breast milk will be discussed. Last to be talked about is the effect breast milk has on the environment.
Exclusive breastfeeding takes place when you give your baby nothing but your milk; that is, the baby's only nutrition and hydration is milk suckled directly from your breasts. A normal healthy baby does not need water, other liquids, or solids during the first six months of life. The healthiest gift you can give your baby is to exclusively breastfeed him for the first six months of life. Breast milk is sufficient for nutrition and hydration. (LLLI, 2010)
Breastfeeding is thought to provide infants with the optimal start in life and is a significant factor contributing to infant health. It is recommended by Australia’s infant feeding guidelines that Mothers should exclusively breastfeed their infants until the child is around six months old, as this is when solid foods are starting to be introduced (The Department of Health , 2017). Breastfeeding has been linked to a reduced likelihood of a range of illnesses such as type 1 diabetes, respiratory illness and middle ear infection, to name a few, and is also thought to enhance cognitive development (The Department of Health , 2017). This report explores whether weaning infants from breastmilk at 6 months of age increases the likelihood of developing
With the arrival of a newborn, parents are immediately faced with myriad of decisions. Should they use cloth or store-bought diapers, co-sleeping or a crib, and what parent gets what shift during the night are just a few. However, one of the most important and more personal choices is between a formula based diet or breastfeeding for their baby to receive his or her required nourishment. It has been proven time and time again that the benefits of breast milk over formula are numerous: they include health, emotional, mental, and financial benefits with the convenience of non-preparation. Breastfeeding is not only the most natural way to provide nutrition for a baby it’s also the most complete way. These benefits do not only benefit the baby, but they benefit the mother as well.
Breastfeeding provides a wide array of health benefits for both baby and mother, while simultaneously enhancing the bond between mom and her baby. Mothers who breastfeed have a lower risk of ovarian and pre-menopausal breast cancer. Their babies see a boost in cognitive development, as well as lowering their chances of being obese as adults, unlike formula fed babies. Consequently, a lower risk of obesity correlates to a lower incident of a wide array of comorbidities such as
Since we have been learning about nutrition in class, our task was to record a food log. Nutrition requires a well-balanced diet containing nutrient and vitamins like amino acids and fatty acids. Over the past seven days I have been recording and have been looking very carefully at my intake of nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and fats. In our task, the objective was to record the basic foods we ate during the period of seven, but it did not require recording every single detail or our intake of food. Doing this food log was a pain and it was disturbing because I never wrote about what I ate like breakfast, lunch, dinner, or additional meals. I found this food log useful because it helped me learn what I can change in my intake of foods to make my diet healthy and to see what about my diet is affecting me from being healthy because I could affect me in the future.
Proper nutrition is one of the most essential elements to being healthy and living a long life. People deal with food every day, and food has been a part of life since the beginning of civilization. What we eat becomes our diet, and our diet plays a major role in deciding how healthy we are and how well our body functions. Without proper diet, our body cannot carry out the functions it needs to perform. Most people have some common knowledge on what is good and what is bad for the human body to consume. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains are some common items people think of when they think of healthy foods. However, it is not enough just to know what foods are good for your body, it is also important to understand why certain foods are good for you and what they do to help the body function.
As they always say HEALTH IS WEALTH! Your food selection today, makes you enjoy for the moment and affects your health tomorrow and in the future!