[Breastfeeding and culture]

Pediatricians consider that breast-feeding is the most appropriate means of nourishing infants. However, in cultural terms, lactation far outweighs this purely dietary function. The act of breast-feeding is very often regarded as being of prime importance and is accordingly strictly controlled. In human societies the choice, duration, and mode of lactation, are governed by various prohibitions or beliefs. Infant feeding habits are transformed by major social changes, such as women working outside the home, female emancipation or the emergence of a consumer society, although this is not always noticed by physicians and health systems. Rather than being organic in origin, most cases of inadequate milk production are due to social causes. Hence, when promoting breast feeding, in addition to argue on the basis of scientific knowledge, physicians must take into account the changes in the social context.