Protecting Infants Through Human Milk

Protecting Infants through Human Milk: Advancing the Scientific Evidence provides a forum in which basic scientists, clinicians, epidemiologists, and policy makers exchange the latest findings regarding the effects of human milk and breastfeeding on infant and maternal health, thereby fostering new and promising collaborations. This volume also integrates data from animal and in vitro laboratory studies with clinical and population studies to examine human milk production and composition, the mechanisms of infant protection and/or risk from human milk feeding, and proposed interventions related to infant feeding practices. Additionally, it stimulates critical evaluation of, and advances in, the scientific evidence base and research methods, and identifies the research priorities in various areas.

Here is a forum in which basic scientists, clinicians, epidemiologists, and policy makers exchange the latest findings regarding the effects of human milk and breastfeeding on infant and maternal health, thereby fostering new and promising collaborations. This volume also integrates data from animal and in vitro laboratory studies with clinical and population studies to examine human milk production and composition, the mechanisms of infant protection and/or risk from human milk feeding, and proposed interventions related to infant feeding practices. Additionally, it stimulates critical evaluation of, and advances in, the scientific evidence base and research methods, and identifies the research priorities in various areas.

Fifty royalty-free plays for children in the lower and middle grades based on such folk and fairy tales as "Pandora's Box," "Rapunzel," "Snow White," and "The Soup Stone.".

The major emphasis in this book is a compilation and definition of what is known about components of human milk, including glycoconjugates, that inhibit common pathogens of the infant. Also discussed are other bioactive constituents whose relevant biological roles are also beginning to be defined. Hormonal and cytokine activity, immunomodulating and autoinflammatory agents, xenobiotics, and conditionally essential nutrients in milk could have roles in the protection of the infant, but may also participate in digestive processes, maternal--infant communication, maturation of the gut, central nervous system, and other components of infant growth and development. Like the protective activities, these are discussed in terms of their presence in milk, structures, potential functions, and structure/function relationship. Components whose role is nutritional support during early development of the infant are also included.

The Model Chapter on Infant and Young Child Feeding is intended for use in basic training of health professionals. It describes essential knowledge and basic skills that every health professional who works with mothers and young children should master. The Model Chapter can be used by teachers and students as a complement to textbooks or as a concise reference manual.

Four years ago the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) brought together a group of scientists to Belmont, Maryland to examine the status of human milk banking. During those deliberations, the idea was generated to organize a series of research conferences concerning human lactation and the composition and biological effects of human milk. The first one, organized by Robert G. Jensen from the University of Connecticut and Margaret C. Neville from the University of Colorado, dealt with methodologic issues. An additional meeting to explore the effects of maternal and environmental factors upon human lactation and the composition of human milk was organized by Margit Hamosh from Georgetown University and me, and was held in January, 1986 in Oaxaca, Mexico. Those meetings provided the foundation for the design of the present conference, 'The Effects of Human Milk Upon the Recipient Infant'. In addition to a grant from the NICHD, the conference was generously supported by Milupa AG from the Federal Republic of Germany; Wyeth Limited and Mead Johnson of Canada; and Ross Laboratories, Heinz USA, the Mead Johnson Nutritional Group, Wyeth International Limited, Gerber Products Company, the La Leche League International, Glaxo Incorporated and Sandoz Pharmaceutical Corporation from the United States.

Infant formulas are unique because they are the only source of nutrition for many infants during the first 4 to 6 months of life. They are critical to infant health since they must safely support growth and development during a period when the consequences on inadequate nutrition are most severe. Existing guidelines and regulations for evaluating the safety of conventional food ingredients (e.g., vitamins and minerals) added to infant formulas have worked well in the past; however they are not sufficient to address the diversity of potential new ingredients proposed by manufacturers to develop formulas that mimic the perceived and potential benefits of human milk. This book, prepared at the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada, addresses the regulatory and research issues that are critical in assessing the safety of the addition of new ingredients to infants.

Integrating Population Outcomes, Biological Mechanisms and Research Methods in the Study of Human Milk and Lactation is the product of the 10th Conference of the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation, held on September 15-19, 2000, in Tucson, Arizona. The presented sessions at the meeting are as diverse as the volume itself. These sessions include the impact of micronutrient deficiencies during lactation on maternal and infant health, the premature infant, developmental immunology, breastfeeding in the industrialized world, and viral transmission in milk. Whenever possible, the sessions were organized to include human population research, research showing the biological underpinnings of the effects on human health, and important methodological issues. This volume is a contemporary and influential tool for human milk biologists, breastfeeding epidemiologists, biochemists, immunologists, clinical specialists, and all professionals and researchers in the field.