ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the rise and decline of infant mortality in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A subset of deaths related to infant feeding is analysed, particularly where the proximate cause was said to be diarrhoea. A number of key points about the relationship between feeding and mortality are examined, with particular reference to evidence contained in annual reports of Medical Officers of Health (MOsH). There has been some controversy as to whether diarrhoea in particular can be said to be the result more of social than environmental factors and the paper reflects on this.
