Nourishing the Child - Research Paper Example

It has become very sophisticated to the point that it does not only promote growth but also protection from infections, visual acuity and mental development. Yet in spite of the many perceived benefits of the formula, much of the world still recognized that breast milk is still best for babies. The World Health Organization has affirmed in its 2003 publication entitled "The Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding" that it is the lack of exclusive breastfeeding that is the leading factor for increase morbidity and mortality of the infant and the young child. (p. 5) This paper aims to provide a scholarly and insightful discussion on the issues surrounding the topic of whether it is more appropriate to conduct breastfeeding rather than providing bottled milk.

To achieve this, I will draw only upon relevant research articles that are peer-reviewed and are less than 5 years of publication the latter being important so that it is not outdated. I will also be relating the issue to the Canadian setting. The perspective that I will be assuming would be that of a nursing researcher and since this is the case, I will be providing the relevant role of the nurse regarding this issue. In the end, I will be forming my own nursing judgement regarding which between the two is more appropriate.

It is remarkable to find that the topic regarding breast milk and bottled milk has generated a wealth of research. Most of them points out the benefits of breast milk consumption ranging from physical and mental development to protection from infection and illness for the babies to the lesser probability of women to develop cancer and other diseases. Due to the voluminous data that is available, I will only be citing some of these studies.Breastfed children were established by Coppa and colleagues (2006) to have a lower incidence of acute gastroenteritis because of the oligosaccharides of human milk.

After studying 304 infants, English researchers Quigley and his colleagues (2006) concluded that breastfeeding also reduced the probability of diarrhoeal disease and that the protective effect of breast feeding did not persist beyond two months after breast feeding had stopped. Chantry, Howard and Auinger (2006) also found that it reduces the possibility of acquiring respiratory tract infection while Marild and colleagues (2004) found that it reduces the risk of acquiring Urinary Tract Infection.

The earlier the child is breastfed, the more the protection from UTI will be realized. Breast milking was shown not to be a factor contributing to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome by Hauck et.al. (2003). Edmond and his colleagues (2004) were able to come up with a number with their statement that 16% of neonatal deaths could be saved if all infants were breastfed from day 1 and 22% if breastfeeding started within the first hour. With regards to development, Bier (2002) found out human milk improves cognitive and motor development of infants.

The longer the child is breastfeeding, the more likely he will be ahead in school (Victore et.al, 2005). After adjusting for social and perinatal confounders, Oddy et.al. (2003) states that the early introduction of milk other than