I n this issue of PLoS Medicine, Renaud Becquet and colleagues report their fi ndings from a new study looking at the long-term safety of infant feeding interventions aimed at reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission in Africa [1]. Over two years, the researchers studied the safety of infant feeding interventions (either formula feeding or shortened breast-feeding) among infants of HIV-infecte...

OBJECTIVE To assess the feasibility of implementing a dedicated feeding support team on a postnatal ward and pilot the potential effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of team (proactive) and woman-initiated (reactive) telephone support after discharge. DESIGN Randomised controlled trial embedded within a before-and-after study. Participatory approach and mixed-method process evaluation. SETT...

Background: Mothers’ empowerment in breast-feeding is a key motivational and psychological factor for continuous breast-feeding. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the effects of family-centered educational-supportive program on mothers’ empowerment in breastfeeding. Materials and Methods: In this random clinical trial, pregnant women who met inclusion criteria were gradually select...

Background This paper summarises EVective Health Care, volume 6, number 2, which is based on a systematic review to evaluate the eVectiveness of interventions to promote the initiation of breast feeding. Breast feeding is a key public health issue. Health benefits associated with breast feeding include protection against gastroenteritis, respiratory infection, otitis media, urinary tract infect...

BACKGROUND The effect of breast-feeding on the development of allergic disease is uncertain. There are no data that show whether this relationship varies by individual genotypes. OBJECTIVE We sought to evaluate the effect of breast-feeding and gene-breast-feeding interactions on food sensitization (FS) in a prospective US birth cohort. METHODS This study included 970 children who were prosp...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To examine themes associated with falls specific to older adult patients diagnosed with cancer. DESIGN Prospective, exploratory, qualitative study. SETTING A senior adult oncology program at a cancer and research center in the southeastern United States. SAMPLE Men and women aged 70 years and older with any cancer diagnosis who had experienced a fall within three months...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the effects of breast feeding on autonomic nervous system (ANS) response to stressors. METHODS Sympathetic and parasympathetic activities were examined before, during, and after standard laboratory stressors in women who were either exclusively breast feeding (n=14) or nonexclusively breast feeding (n=14), and in non-postpartum controls (n=15). ...

OBJECTIVE Breast-feeding is associated with positive maternal and infant health and development outcomes. To assist identifying women less likely to meet infant nutritional guidelines, we investigated the role of socio-economic position and parity on initiation of and sustaining breast-feeding for at least 6 months. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Australia. SUBJECTS Parous women...

OBJECTIVE To assess the association between duration of breast feeding and measures of adiposity in adolescence. DESIGN Population based birth cohort study. SETTING Pelotas, a city of 320 000 inhabitants in a relatively developed area in southern Brazil. PARTICIPANTS All newborn infants in the city's hospitals were enrolled in 1982; 78.8% (2250) of all male participants were located at ag...

Fifty Asian immigrant mothers who would have expected to breast feed their infants had they remained in rural Asia were studied. There was a striking reduction in the incidence and duration of breast feeding on arrival in the United Kingdom, and a fall in the age of weaning. The availability of an alternative to human milk is the most important factor reducing the incidence of breast feeding. O...