WOMEN should freely breastfeed their children for two years or longer without any fear of negative effects after the government dismissed research findings that it causes cavities.
Deputy Minister for Health, Community
Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr Khamis Kigwangalla, made
the stand when responding to findings of a research conducted in Brazil
and published last Friday in a journal known as Pediatrics.
According to the research findings,
children who were breastfed for two years or longer were more likely to
have dental cavities. The Deputy Minister said breast feeding children
for two years or longer had more advantages than disadvantages.
“Firstly, breast milk is the perfect
food with all necessary nutrients. It can easily be absorbed by the
baby’s body. Secondly, it contains antibodies that help a baby fight off
viruses and bacteria and thirdly, it builds baby’s body immunity,” Dr
Kigwangalla, who is a medical doctor by profession, said.
The Deputy Minister also pointed out
that breastfeeding a baby for two years or more helped to strengthen
maternal bond - the relationship between a mother and her child.
“Though a research is countered by
another research, these findings cannot be applied in our country due to
what I have already said. We will continue stressing on the need to
breastfeed our children for two years and even longer, if possible,” he
said.
The findings that were widely circulated
by various international news channels, including CNN International
came up after researchers analysed breastfeeding behaviours and sugar
consumption for 1,129 children in Pelotas, Brazil.
According to the research, at age 5
years, the children visited a dentist and were examined for decayed,
missing and filled primary tooth surfaces and severe early childhood
caries or severe cavities.
Severe early childhood caries were
defined as six or more decayed, missing and filled primary tooth
surfaces. Among the children in the study, 23.9 per cent had severe
cavities and 48 per cent had at least one tooth surface affected by a
cavity.
Kids who were breastfed for two years or
longer had 2.4 times higher risk of having severe cavities, compared to
kids who were breastfed for less than a year. “There are some reasons
to explain such an association,” said Dr Karen Peres, lead author of the
study and associate professor at the University of Adelaide in
Australia.
“First, children who are exposed to
breast-feeding beyond 24 months are usually those breastfed on demand
and at night. Second, higher frequency of breastfeeding and nocturnal
breastfeeding on demand makes it very difficult to clean teeth in this
specific period.”
However, the study found that
breastfeeding between 12 and 23 months did not bring with it a higher
risk of cavities. About one quarter of the kids were breastfed for 24
months or longer.
Dental caries is the scientific term for
tooth decay or cavities. It is caused by specific types of bacteria.
They produce acid that destroys the tooth’s enamel and the layer under
it, the dentin.
Many different types of bacteria
normally live in the human mouth. Márcia Vitolo, a professor of health
sciences at the Federal University of Health Sciences in Porto Alegre,
Brazil, said that she too believed breastfeeding at a high frequency, as
well as the amount of sugar eaten, could explain the reason for these
study results.
Vitolo was not involved in this study
but carried out similar studies of her own. “I believe that there is
association between breastfeeding and cavities when the environment is
unhealthy - like there is a high frequency of breastfeeding during day
and night and consumption of sweets and candies,” said Vitolo.
The study also found an association for
socio-economic characteristics that can contribute to a higher risk of a
child having dental caries. If a family had a lower income or the
mother had less schooling, children had more dental cavities and were at
a higher risk of having severe cavities.
Other studies measuring the relationship
between long-term breastfeeding and dental cavities have had mixed
results - though this could be due in part to the researchers looking at
cavities in children of different ages and defining prolonged
breastfeeding by different time ranges.
Vitolo, who conducted a similar study in
Porto Alegre, Brazil, also found that children who breastfed more than
24 months had a two times higher risk of developing severe cavities.
Two other research studies conducted on
children in Germany and Italy found an association, while another in
Brazil did not. But Peres says it’s important to remember that since
this study was conducted in Brazil, the results may not be as applicable
to other parts of the world.
“I believe that general extrapolation of
our findings is uncertain, suggesting that this could be made only for
populations with similar patterns of breastfeeding and exposure to
fluoride,” said Peres.
Fluoride in water can prevent tooth
decay and protect against cavities. Pelotas, Brazil, has had a
fluoridated water supply since 1962. Breastfeeding has been found to
have certain dental benefits.
Another study by Peres found that babies
are 72 per cent less likely to have crooked teeth if they are breastfed
exclusively for six months. Breastfeeding can also reduce the risk of a
condition called baby bottle tooth decay, which is most often
associated with babies’ teeth being exposed to sugary drinks for an
extended period of time.
This sometimes occurs when babies are
put to bed with a bottle or a bottle is used as a pacifier. The American
Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding babies for a year and
continuing for longer only when both the mother and child want to.
The World Health Organisation
recommendations extend the breastfeeding time period up to two years or
longer. There are benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child
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