BIBLIOGRAPHIC INPUT SHEET TEMPORARY Patterns of mortality ...

ChapterXIII. Breast Feeding
267
Fla. 134. Percentage of Infants Dying at 28 Days-5 Months of Age from Diarrheal Disease According
to Breast Feeding in 13 Latin American Projects.
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PER CENT PER CENT FIe CENT PE CENT
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EnDATT BREASTFED FED
NEVER WEANED I MONTH OR LONGER LESS THAN I MONTH NOT BREASTFED
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diarrheal disease in infants breast fed and
never weaned. These percentages ranged
from 52.8 in Recife down to 20.5 in San Juan
Province. In the other three groups higher
proportions of the deaths were due to diarrheal
disease. In the 13 projects cornbined,
31.7 per cent of infants breast fed
and never weaned died from this cause, in
contrast to 51.4 per cent of infants breast
fed one month or longer, 54.2 per cent of
those breast fed less than a month, and 51.7
per cent of those never breast fed. Thus,
breast feeding without weaning is seen to be
beneficial, being accompanied by a smaller
proportion of deaths from diarrheal disease.
This is important indirect evidence of the
protective value of breast feeding.
Other factors probably affected mortality
from diarrheal disease. Two of the areas
with highest percentages of deaths from this
cause in those breast fed and never weaned
-Recife (52.8) and Chaco Province (40.8)
-are areas where only small proportions
of the homes are provided with water supplies.
The Chile project, with the second
lowest percentage (21.2), is in an area where
a very high proportion of the homes have
water supplies. Thus, multiple factors are
involved in mortality from diarrheal disease.
However, the evidence presented in
this Chapter, as well as in the section on
diarrheal disease in Chapter VIII, justifies
breast feeding as an important preventive
measure in Latin America.
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY AND BREAST FEEDING
The biochemical and nutritional char- Lipids, an important source of energy for
acteristics of human milk were recently re- young infants, though present in human
viewed by Jelliffe and Jelliffe (1971) and milk in smaller proportions than in cow's
Gybrgy (1971). Some of the important milk, provide the needed essential fatty
properties can be summarized as follows: acids. The action of lipase in human milk