Problems of the Newborn. Feeding.

Abstract

“It is gluttony more than genes which causes us to degenerate.” (Leading Article, 1965) B.M.J., Those burdens of adult life—obesity, atherosclerosis, and hypertension—would seem out of place when discussing the newly born. Yet there is some evidence, and more speculation, that these and possibly other illnesses affecting prosperous countries, may not be entirely unrelated to present infant feeding practices. About 80% of the nation's babies are now fed artificially, and the reasons mothers have for not breast feeding are complex. Perhaps the commonest, as Dr. Mavis Gunther has said, is “the pleasure of seeing the stuff go in. This pleasure takes thousands of people to the zoo and it warms the hearts of little girls who are allowed to feed visiting babies.” Too much of the wrong stuff may be going in at present, and perhaps we should stop to consider possible consequences. Some aspects of feeding which strictly speaking concern the older infant more than the newly born will be discussed, for the mother is likely to be seeking her family doctor's advice in the days after delivery, and he will find this a convenient time to provide her with some guidelines for the following months. © 1971, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.