Growth and milk intake of exclusively breast-fed Myanmar infants

Twenty-nine exclusively breast-fed infants from moderate and low socio-economic groups were followed-up from birth to 6 months of age. Breast milk intake and body weight of the infants were measured at monthly intervals and morbidity recorded. It is interesting to note that although the mean birth weight of 2.76 kg was only 85 per cent of the NCHS reference standard, catch-up growth occurred whereby the exclusively breast-fed infants attained 94 per cent and 101 per cent of the reference standard at 1 and 2 months of age respectively. At 3 months of age, the mean weight of the infants was 99 per cent of the reference standard and then the growth curve began to falter between 4 and 5 months of age, from 97 per cent at 4 months to 93 per cent of the reference standard at 5 months, the mean weight increment (kg/month) between 4 and 5 months being (less than -1 SD) of the reference value. On the other hand, milk intake of these infants increased from 453 g/d at 1 month to 621 g/d at 4 months reaching a value of 655 g/d at 5 months. It was also observed that the morbidity pattern did not seem to differ, especially at 3-4 months and 4-5 months. The faltering of growth between 4 and 5 months of age was probably due to the fact that the increase in breast milk intake was not sufficient to meet the increase in nutritional requirements needed for the growth of these infants after the age of 4 months.