Although most US mothers initiate breastfeeding, half fail to achieve their breastfeeding intentions. In cross-sectional and retrospective surveys, early breastfeeding difficulties are often cited as reasons for stopping breastfeeding earlier than intended.

We characterized 4179 breastfeeding concerns/problems as reported by primiparas interviewed prospectively. Concerns were highly prevalent and associated with up to ninefold greater risk of stopping breastfeeding earlier than intended. Concerns at 3 to 7 days posed the greatest risk. (Read the full article)

Lower risk of early celiac disease (CD) has been observed with breastfeeding and low dose of gluten at introduction. Gluten introduction before 4 or after 6 months has been associated with increased risk. For CD diagnosed after 2 years, the association is unclear.

Gluten introduction delayed to >6 months as well as breastfeeding >12 months was associated with a modest increase in CD in this first population-based birth cohort study, and gluten introduction under continued breastfeeding was not protective. (Read the full article)

Preterm infants must develop oral feeding skills before successfully transitioning to home. Pacifier-activated devices playing selected music can improve nonnutritive sucking in preterm infants. A mother’s voice is a positive auditory stimulus for infants.

A brief intervention with a pacifier-activated music player using mother’s voice can decrease tube feeding duration without adverse effects on stress or growth. Operant conditioning with positive reinforcement is an effective developmental strategy to improve preterm infants’ feeding skills. (Read the full article)

Although expert consensus and previous literature document the importance of early feeding and activity behaviors and practices in preventing obesity and the risks of early rapid weight gain, few studies have rigorously assessed obesity-related behaviors by caregivers of infants.

This study demonstrates the high prevalence of behaviors thought to increase risk for obesity in a diverse, large sample of parent/2-month-old dyads and finds that many behaviors vary by race and ethnicity, suggesting the potential for culturally tailored interventions. (Read the full article)

In-person peer counseling to pregnant and new mothers has been shown to improve breastfeeding modestly in three US RCTs. But this level of support for WIC is unlikely to be scaled up nationally in the current fiscal environment.

We randomly assigned WIC clients to a telephone peer counseling program relative to standard WIC support for breastfeeding. Nonexclusive breastfeeding among Spanish-speakers increased at 1, 3, and 6 months, but the program had much less of an effect on English-speaking clients. (Read the full article)

Restrictive feeding by parents is associated with poorer eating self-regulation and increased child weight status. However, this association could be due to confounding home environmental or genetic factors that are challenging to control.

Differential maternal restrictive feeding is associated with differences in twins' caloric compensation and BMI z score. Controlling for the shared home environment and partially for genetics, these findings further support a true (ie, unconfounded) association between restriction and childhood obesity. (Read the full article)

Fathers’ attitude and support affects breastfeeding outcomes. Fathers are currently not targeted in breastfeeding support and care provided by health care professionals. Breastfeeding interventions delivered to fathers have been shown to increase breastfeeding exclusivity and duration.

A coparenting breastfeeding support intervention delivered to mothers and fathers in the postpartum period showed beneficial effects on breastfeeding duration, paternal breastfeeding confidence, breastfeeding help provided by fathers, and mothers’ satisfaction with fathers’ involvement with breastfeeding. (Read the full article)

Although we know breastfeeding is beneficial and infant weight gain can predict obesity later in life, the relationship between breastfeeding duration and infant weight gain patterns among populations exhibiting high risk for obesity is unexplored.

This study demonstrates the greater odds of increased infant weight gain for infants who breastfed for shorter durations among those exposed to a high number of maternal biopsychosocial risk factors for obesity. (Read the full article)

Exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of an infant’s age is described as the safest, most powerful and cost-effective intervention to reduce infant morbidity and mortality globally. In developing countries, only ~25% of infants are exclusively breastfed for 6 months.

We developed a psycho-educational intervention combining education with techniques of cognitive-behavioral therapy, integrated it into the routine work of community health workers, which increased the rate and duration of exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of an infant’s age. (Read the full article)

Distribution of infant formula discharge packs to breastfeeding mothers is common practice in maternity care facilities in the United States. Receiving discharge packs is associated with shortened exclusive breastfeeding duration. Many efforts have been made to discourage this practice.

From 2007 to 2013, there has been a marked reduction in distribution of discharge packs containing infant formula to breastfeeding mothers in hospitals and birth centers in the United States. (Read the full article)

"Protective" complementary feeding practices that promote self-regulation of intake and development of healthy food preferences have been positively associated with healthy child eating patterns and growth. There are few high-quality trials evaluating feeding practice interventions; none has reported long-term outcomes.

This large randomized controlled trial demonstrates that anticipatory guidance on the "how" of complementary feeding resulted in more protective feeding practices. These intervention effects were sustained for 3 years and translated into commensurate trends in obesity risk. (Read the full article)

Breastfeeding provides a protective effect against some malocclusions, and there is a strong inverse correlation between the duration of breastfeeding and the duration of pacifier use.

The protective effects of predominant and exclusive breastfeeding against malocclusion are distinct: exclusive breastfeeding reduces the risk of malocclusions regardless of pacifier use, whereas the effect of predominant breastfeeding depends on the duration of the pacifier use. (Read the full article)

Gastrostomy tube placement is a difficult decision for families of children with neurologic impairment. Better understanding the impact of these tubes on the lives of children and families will help improve decision-making and support from health care providers.

Gastrostomy tube placement has broad-reaching implications for children and their families. There are physical, emotional, and relational challenges and benefits for the child, the parents, and the family unit. Exploring potential outcomes with families may improve decision-making conversations and support. (Read the full article)

Research has shown that parent feeding practices are associated with adolescent weight status and dietary intake. It is unknown whether certain factors such as parent and child weight status concordance or discordance influence parents’ use of specific feeding practices.

Findings from the current study suggest that parents use the highest levels of pressure-to-eat feeding practices when parents and adolescents are both nonoverweight and the highest levels of food restriction when parents and adolescents are both overweight/obese. (Read the full article)

BACKGROUND:

Mexican-origin women breastfeed at similar rates as white women in the United States, yet they usually breastfeed for less time. In our study, we seek to identify differences in Mexican-origin women’s breastfeeding intentions, initiation, continuation, and supplementation across nativity and country-of-education groups.

Zoetis joined the conversation at the 2015 World Exposition (Expo Milano), contributing to advancing solutions to help the world’s livestock farmers produce more with less.

Aug 18 - Lauren Bush Lauren discusses the latest findings on hunger in the U.S. from a survey conducted by an organization she represents. The granddaughter of President George H.W. Bush and niece of President George W. Bush also discusses her famous family.

Title: Pacifiers Don't Discourage Breast-Feeding, Study Says
Category: Health News
Created: 4/30/2012 10:05:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Title: Breast-Feeding May Lower Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/29/2015 12:00:00 AM

Title: Breastfeeding May Help Guard Against Diabetes
Category: Health News
Created: 5/5/2020 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/6/2020 12:00:00 AM

BACKGROUND:

Several studies have investigated the association of breastfeeding status with offspring mortality in Africa, but most studies were from one center only or had limited statistical power to draw robust conclusions.

Krishnamoorthy Krishnan, Asif Shahriar Nafi, Roi Gurka, and Roi Holzman

Fish larvae are the smallest self-sustaining vertebrates. As such, they face multiple challenges that stem from their minute size, and from the hydrodynamic regime in which they dwell. This regime, of intermediate Reynolds numbers, was shown to affect the swimming of larval fish and impede their ability to capture prey. Prey capture is impeded because smaller larvae produce weaker suction flows, exerting weaker forces on the prey. Previous observations on feeding larvae also showed prey exiting the mouth after initially entering it (hereafter "in-and-out"), although the mechanism causing such failures had been unclear. In this study, we used numerical simulations to investigate the hydrodynamic mechanisms responsible for the failure to feed caused by this in-and-out prey movement. Detailed kinematics of the expanding mouth during prey capture by larval Sparus aurata were used to parameterize age-specific numerical models of the flows inside the mouth. These models revealed that for small larvae which expand their mouth slowly, fluid entering the mouth cavity is expelled through the mouth before it is closed, resulting in flow reversal at the orifice. This relative efflux of water through the mouth was >8% of the influx through the mouth for younger ages. However similar effluxes were found when we simulated slow strikes by larger fish. The simulations can explain the observations of larval fish failing to fish due to the in-and-out movement of the prey. These results further highlight the importance of transporting the prey from the gape deeper into the mouth cavity in determining suction-feeding success.

David E. Cade, J. Jacob Levenson, Robert Cooper, Rafael de la Parra, D. Harry Webb, and Alistair D. M. Dove

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus Smith 1828) – the largest extant fish species – reside in tropical environments, making them an exception to the general rule that animal size increases with latitude. How this largest fish thrives in tropical environments that promote high metabolism but support less robust zooplankton communities has not been sufficiently explained. We used open-source inertial measurement units (IMU) to log 397 hours of whale shark behavior in Yucatan, Mexico, at a site of both active feeding and intense wildlife tourism. Here we show that the strategies employed by whale sharks to compensate for the increased drag of an open mouth are similar to ram-feeders five orders of magnitude smaller and one order of magnitude larger. Presumed feeding constituted 20% of the total time budget of four sharks, with individual feeding bouts lasting up to 11 consecutive hrs. Compared to normal, sub-surface swimming, three sharks increased their stroke rate and amplitude while surface feeding, while one shark that fed at depth did not demonstrate a greatly increased energetic cost. Additionally, based on time-depth budgets, we estimate that aerial surveys of shark populations should consider including a correction factor of 3 to account for the proportion of daylight hours that sharks are not visible at the surface. With foraging bouts generally lasting several hours, interruptions to foraging during critical feeding periods may represent substantial energetic costs to these endangered species, and this study presents baseline data from which management decisions affecting tourist interactions with whale sharks may be made.

You can donate here virginmoneygiving.com/fund/FoodforLondonNOW

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Highlights: Breastfeeding may lower a woman's risk of developing diabetes later in life Pregnant women wi

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Imports of Maize (feeding) in Japan increased to 20961.23 JPY Million in March from 17478.83 JPY Million in February of 2020. Imports of Maize (feeding) in Japan averaged 18670.55 JPY Million from 1985 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 41160.03 JPY Million in October of 2008 and a record low of 10210.93 JPY Million in January of 2000. This page includes a chart with historical data for Japan Imports of Maize (feeding).

Imports of Feeding-stuff For Animals in Japan increased to 33551.80 JPY Million in March from 28403.22 JPY Million in February of 2020. Imports of Feeding-stuff For Animals in Japan averaged 24342.09 JPY Million from 1988 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 42064.24 JPY Million in January of 2015 and a record low of 10005.51 JPY Million in February of 1989. This page includes a chart with historical data for Japan Imports of Feeding-stuff For Animals.

Researchers at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban looked through samples from the Rockall Trough, an area of deep sea off the west coast of Scotland.

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