August 1st-7th is World Breastfeeding Week. The idea that breastfeeding is the preferred method of feeding newborns is now widely accepted. However, we still know very little about breast milk, and new research is constantly updating our understanding. During this Breastfeeding Week, a large-scale research project on maternal and infant nutrition and health and breast milk composition, "Ming Study," completed with the participation of the School of Public Health at Peking University, shows that breast milk is far more "intelligent" than we imagined. In the short term, breast milk can promote healthy growth in babies, reduce the incidence of related diseases, and improve babies' acceptance of food. In the long term, it can improve babies' cognitive abilities and has a good preventive effect on obesity, diabetes, and other cardiovascular diseases in adulthood.
Nutritional status in the first 1000 days of life is closely related to chronic diseases.
Li Guanghui, deputy director of the Department of Perinatal Medicine (Obstetrics) at Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, explained that numerous studies in recent years have shown that the occurrence of chronic diseases in adulthood is not only closely related to genetics and lifestyle in adulthood, but also to nutritional status during the first 1000 days of life. These 1000 days refer to the approximately three years from conception to the baby's second birthday.
"This is a critical period for the development of the body's tissues and organs, and it is also a period when the body is very sensitive to changes in the external environment. If the nutrition is unbalanced during this period, it will not only affect the baby's physical and brain development in the near future, but will also have an important impact on the occurrence of chronic diseases in adulthood."
Li Guanghui stated that research shows that as the duration of breastfeeding increases, the incidence of overweight and obesity in children decreases. A study involving 80,000 participants also showed that breastfed children have a significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.
Professor Lai Jianqiang, deputy director of the Institute of Nutrition and Health at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the benefits of breastfeeding have become a social consensus. The updated version of the Dietary Guidelines for Nutrition this year has listed separate guidelines for breastfeeding infants aged 0-6 months and infants aged 7-24 months, providing detailed guidance and interpretation on breastfeeding.
