Recent research has demonstrated the unsurpassed value of breast-feeding in promoting the optimal nutrition of the human neonate. Breast milk has been shown to have a uniquely appropriate composition for the neonate at a time when growth and development are occurring at a near-maximal rate, yet when many of the body's systems (digestive, hepatic and renal) are relatively immature. The N required for growth is both qualitatively and quantitatively appropriate for the immaturity of these systems, and the bioavailability of many vitamins and minerals to the neonate is enhanced in breast milk. Trophic factors in human milk (peptides, growth factors, hormones, amino acids, glycoproteins, poly amines and nucleotides) promote the development of the immature gastrointestinal tract, and breast milk contains a number of enzymes (e.g. bile salt-stimulated lipase (EC 3.1.1.3)) with the potential to augment the infant's gastrointestinal digestive capacity (Harzer & Haschke, 1989). These diverse observations illustrate the advantages of human milk and provide the rationale for the recommendation that breast milk should be the infant's only source of nutriment for the first 4-6 months of life (National Health and Medical Research Council, 1992).
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