Nursing research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing research - Essay Example According to World Health Organization (2009), breast milk is the perfect natural food for babies. According to this article, breast milk is composed of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that are perfectly mixed appropriate for the development of physiology in babies. Breast milk according to this article, contains protective substances that provide the baby with immunity to diseases. This article shows that during the early stages of the life of the baby, breast milk meets virtually all the nutrients required by the baby and there is no other fluid including water is required noting that breast milk is composed of 88% water which is enough to satisfy the thirst of an infant. This article summarized research showing that infants need to be breastfed exclusively for the first six months. This article indicates that those babies who are exclusively breastfed for period of six months have on average 8.6 times lower risks of the diarrheal illness. In this same article it is recommended t hat breastfeeding should continue along with the solid food introduction such as complimentary feeding for not less than 23 months. This implies according to this study that the minimum period that is needed to adequately nourish a growing child is 2 years though some parents might wish to continue with breastfeed for a period beyond this. Moreover, the article recommends that breast milk provide at least 50 percent of calories for a child between 6 and 12 months of age, and one-third of calories between 12 and 24 months of age. According to Arifeen et al (2005) deaths that occur due to diarrhea and pneumonia can be reduced by one third among the infants if infants were to be exclusively rather than partially breastfed for a period of the first four months. Unfortunately, 35 percent of infants are exclusively breastfed for a period of six months. According to this article, breastfeeding, as well confers long term and intermediate benefits on both the mother and the child which inclu des aiding in protecting the child against various acute and chronic disorders. This article indicate that at 6 months of age, increased energy demand of an infant begin to exceed the amount of energy that is provided by the breast milk and that is the time to start introducing foods. Arifeen et al (2005 noted that it might not be proper for a mother to continue breastfeeding exclusively beyond this point. This study indicated that the breastfeeding process needs to be proceeded on demand throughout the entire complimentary feeding period. This is said so because breast milk often provide higher quality of nutrients as compared to the complimentary foods. Moreover, breast milk is a protective factor guarding against childhood diseases and it helps in reducing on the risks of chronic diseases that might come later in life. In this article, the author indicated that at six months of age, the increased energy needs of the infant start to exceed the energy provided by breast milk, so th at’s the time to begin to introduce foods.   It is not okay to continue to breastfeed exclusively at this point.  At the same time, breastfeeding should still continue on-demand throughout the complementary feeding period (up to 2 years of age) (Arifeen et al, 2005).   Breast milk continues to provide higher quality nutrients than complementary foods, and also protective factors that guard against childhood illness and reduce the risk of chronic diseas