Breast-Feeding from an Evolutionary Perspective

Abstract

Lactation is the most critical period of mammal feeding given the compulsory dependence on milk of the offspring during a more or less extensive period following birth. This has also been the case for the human species until relatively recent times when heterologous milk processing has allowed the alternative of artificial lactation. The advantages and disadvantages of natural and artificial lactation (formula) have been widely discussed from the biological, psychological and cultural perspectives, without reaching a general agreement among the breastfeeding women themselves or among the health professionals concerned. On the subject of breastfeeding, the information available is enormous but as in other instances, the excess of it has often made it difficult to acquire objective knowledge on the matter that has hindered decision-making in specific circumstances. This situation is understandable given the diversity and the innumerable contingencies that the mother and health professionals must face in their natural and social (cultural) environments. To reduce these difficulties and taking into consideration the biological and cultural aspects involved in infant feeding, this article analyzes some aspects of the subject from the point of view of biological evolution as the mother-child dyad, mother-infant conflicts, in particular the conflict of weaning, late-onset primary lactase deficiency and the prevention from childhood of adult diseases. All of which allows to offer a testimony of gratitude and respect to women who have assumed the responsibility of breastfeeding their infants because without them the human species would not have existed.

Keywords: breastfeeding; history; infant; milk formulas.

Figure 1

The factors involved in the transmission of cultural evolution (learning) are more complex than those of biological evolution (genetic inheritance) and can occur in short time intervals even in a single generation (modified from Creanza, Kolodny and Feldman).