The impact of malnutrition on human lactation: observations from community studies

There is very little scope for the direct examination of relationships between nutrient intake and lactational performance in women. Experimental investigations are limited to the effects of dietary supplementation in pregnancy and/or lactation. To obtain comparisons between normal and undernourished women, studies have to be performed at a community level. Studies in Cambridge, The Gambia, and elsewhere indicate that the impact of variations in nutrient intake on lactational performance is limited: over the ranges normally found in developed and developing countries milk output does not vary in relation to energy intake, and effects of nutrient intake on milk quality are restricted to increases in vitamin content after appropriate supplementation.