Studies on the quality of breast milk during 23 months of lactation in a rural community of the Ivory Coast

Abstract

Milk samples from 33 women from a rural area of the Ivory Coast were analyzed once a month. In two longitudinal studies covering 23 months of breast feeding, analyses of lipid components and protein were performed. The compositions remained virtually constant over 23 months of lactation except for a decrease of protein concentration during the first 6 months, a rising trend of myristic acid (14:0) and a falling trend of oleic acid (18:1). Infants were growing well on breast milk with nothing else for the first 5 months, but thereafter their growth curves were no longer satisfactory as judged by Western standards: weight for age (percentage of Harvard standards) decreased from 5 to 10 months of age to level off thereafter at a value of 80%. The mothers' weight for height remained constant. In a cross-sectional study, additional determinations were performed: aminograms, lactose, calories, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, and vitamin E. All data were compared with those of the literature. Lauric (12:0) and myristic (14:0) acids were higher, total lipids and polyunsaturated fatty acids lower than those published for Western countries. Plasma composition of the mothers showed lower levels of albumin, lipids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as blood hemoglobin. Possible correlations between various variables such as milk composition, plasma levels, and anthropometry were calculated and discussed.

Maternal Diet, Breast Feeding and Infants' Growth: A fieldstudy in the Ivory Coast (West Africa)

“…When the present results are compared with those of a previous study (1), protein and lactose concentrations in milk are found to be similar. Total lipid, phospholipid, triglyceride, cholesterol and therefore calorie content was lower in the present study.…”

“…Lipid phosphorus was determined by the method of Morrison (17). Fatty acid composition of total lipids: Transmethylation and gas chromatography were performed as previously described (1). Ashes, calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc and manganese: Aliquots of lyophilised food samples were incinerated in quartz crucibles at 55°C overnight after carbonisation on a mushroomshaped burner.…”

Circadian variation in fat concentration of breast-milk in a rural northern Thai population

“…Prentice et al (1981 b) reported decreasing fat concentration from the first to the fourth trimester of lactation. The observation that fat content of breast-milk decreases with increasing parity (Lauber & Reinhardt, 1979;Prentice et al 1981 b) was not obtained in our study, possibly because the range in parity in this study was very small. Other variables relating to the feeding patterns of the infants, such as milk intake and frequency of suckling, did not predict mean fat concentration as well as the age of the infant, either singly or in combination with other variables.…”

Mother's iron status, breastmilk iron and lactoferrin – are they related?

“…The values reported in different studies may be due in part to differences in sampling procedures as well as stage of lactation. Iron content of human milk is highest in early transitional milk (0.97 mg/l) (Lauber and Reinhardt, 1979) but decrease steadily during lactation, reaching a level of approximately 0.35 mg/l at 1 month of lactation to 0.20 mg/l at 6 months (Lemons et al, 1982;Lonnerdal, 1984). The diurnal variation in iron content of breastmilk tend to parallel those reported for fat content with significantly lower mean values in the early morning feeding compared to late evening feeding (Hall, 1979;Fransson and Lonnerdal, 1980).…”