Growth in exclusively breastfed infants

Abstract

Objective: To address the growth of full-term children in the first 6 months of life in exclusive breastfeeding.

Source of data: A non-systematic review was carried out by searching the MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases and the World Health Organization website for articles and documents on the growth of exclusively breastfed infants and their monitoring. Those documents considered to be the most relevant by the author were selected.

Data synthesis: Exclusively breastfeed infants show differentiated growth when compared to formula-fed infants. Weight loss in the first four days of life is due more to loss of fat mass rather than lean mass, including body water, and is usually lower in exclusively breastfed infants. In turn, the time for recovery of the birth weight may be longer in these infants. Formula-fed infants gain weight and increase their BMI more rapidly in the first three to six months of life than infants in exclusive or predominant breastfeeding due to a progressive increase in lean mass. The World Health Organization growth curves, which use the growth pattern of breastfed children as their standard, are used to monitor growth.

Conclusions: Exclusively breastfed infants have differentiated growth when compared with formula-fed infants. This should be considered when monitoring the infant's growth. It should be emphasized that the growth pattern currently used as reference is that of the exclusively breastfed infant.

Keywords: Amamentação exclusiva; Crescimento; Exclusive breastfeeding; Growth; Growth monitoring; Monitoramento do crescimento.