PRINCIPLES OF BREASTFEEDING AND GUIDELINES FOR INTRODUCING COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING IN INFANTS
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Breastfeeding is the optimal method of infant nutrition and plays a crucial role in ensuring healthy growth, development, and immune protection during early life. The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, followed by the gradual introduction of complementary foods while continuing breastfeeding. This article reviews the fundamental principles of breastfeeding and the evidence-based guidelines for introducing complementary feeding. Proper timing, food selection, and feeding practices are essential to meet infants’ nutritional needs and prevent malnutrition, infections, and developmental disorders. Adherence to recommended feeding strategies contributes significantly to improved child health outcomes.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts, and all Open Access articles are disseminated under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC-BY), which licenses unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is appropriately cited. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, and so forth in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does not imply that these names are not protected by the relevant laws and regulations.
How to Cite
References
1.World Health Organization. Exclusive breastfeeding for optimal growth, development and health of infants. WHO; 2023.
2.UNICEF. Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices. UNICEF; 2022.
3.Victora CG, et al. Breastfeeding in the 21st century. The Lancet. 2016;387(10017):475–490.
4.Dewey KG. Guiding principles for complementary feeding. WHO Bulletin. 2003;81(6):387–394.
5.Kramer MS, Kakuma R. Optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012.