Draft Australian Dietary Guidelines (PDF, 3MB) - Eat For Health

5.2.2 Infant growthFor ethical reasons, randomised control trials (RCTs) of breastfeeding are not possible. The bestresearch alternative is the use of RCTs of health promotion interventions to increasebreastfeeding rates. For this reason, most evidence is based on prospective cohort studies and onelarge health promotion RCT, the Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT) study[883].Breastfed infants grow more slowly than formula-fed infants [861]. A systematic review of 19observational studies in developed countries concluded that the cumulative difference in bodyweight at 12 months of age was 600–650g less in infants breastfed for 12 months than formula-fedinfants [884]. Differences in feeding behavior and mother–child interaction between breastfed andformula-fed infants may account for some of the differences reported. For instance, breastfedinfants showed a different suckling pattern, and appeared to have greater degree of control onmeal sizes and feeding intervals than infants who were formula-fed [885].5.2.3 Cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and excessweightExcess weight: There is convincing evidence that breastfeeding , compared with formulafeeding, is associated with reduced risk of infants becoming obese in childhood, adolescence andearly adulthood (Grade A, Section 17.2 in Evidence Report [14]). The protection offered bybreastfeeding appears to increase with duration of breastfeeding until it plateaus at nine months[886, 887].Evidence of an association between the age of introduction of solid foods and excess weight inchildren is inconclusive (Section 19.1 in Evidence Report [14]).Blood pressure: There is probable evidence that infants who are breastfed exclusively in the firstfew months of life have a lower adult systolic and diastolic blood pressure (approximately 1.5/0.5mmHg) compared with those who are formula-fed (Grade B, Section 23.1 in Evidence Report[14]).Total and LDL cholesterol: Recent evidence suggests being breastfed initially, and particularlyexclusively breastfed, is associated with lower total and LDL concentrations in adult life whencompared with those who were formula-fed (Grade C, Section 23.1 in Evidence Report [14]).DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines- December 2011 138