ABSTRACT
This chapter explores an invitation to review “state of the art knowledge of the superiority of breast milk/breast-feeding.” It focuses on clinical or epidemiological studies that have compared the effects of different types of feeding methods on infants and very young children. The caveats are followed by a review of some examples both of historical and of current clinical studies that have examined differences in morbidity and mortality among infants that were breast-fed, partially breast-fed or artificially fed. The proposition that breast-feeding is superior can be considered first in the context of evolutionary biology. In evolutionary terms, human beings are viviparous mammals. Lopez Bravo and her colleagues in Santiago have reported a study from a population in transition that is also worth noting. The growth faltering that commonly appears when breast milk is not supplemented adequately, is aggravated by infections that begin to increase in frequency in most infants at about the same age.
