Breast milk has a clear effect on the development of bones and muscles of the newborn.
but are there any clear data showing if due to breastfeeding bones develop first? or muscles develop first? (Or aster than one another) ? Or Together (at the same rate)
A pattern of typical infant development has been identified: growth proceeds from "head to tail" and "near to far" (cephalocaudal principal and proximodistal principal). Muscle development follows a similar principal "mass to specific": control of larger muscles before smaller muscles (large movements before small movements). I assume that the benefits of breastfeeding would be evenly distributed, with development proceeding as anticipated (i.e. typical development) with no difference between the timing of developmental expectations between bone and muscle development. I have included some links to papers on ResearchGate (Grace et al), from the publisher (Robinson et al.) and a brief annotated bibliography of papers indexed in PubMed.
https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/gls061
Article Breastfeeding and motor development: A longitudinal cohort study
I believe you are asking about bone development, not neuromotor. For bones, check this paper by Fewtrell from Lucas' group in England:
According to laws of growth and development as well as the facts observed clinically it can be inferred that Muscles grows early than bones in exclusively breast feeding baby.
Ronald, Excellent point, I was focusing on neuromotor development. See the attached review paper, "Factors affecting Bone Growth", it is listed on ResearchGate but not available, it can be downloaded from naturalheightgrowth.com.
http://www.naturalheightgrowth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/factorsaffectingbonegrowth.pdf
I havent got anything erudite to say, but I believe you should not tamper with nature.If breast feeding is not the best nutrition for babies there is something very wrong with the human race.
Philosphically correct answer, Dr. Hardy. The Fewtrell paper referenced above adds data supporting this. Why does the lowest Calcium diet (milk) result in better bones than higher calcium formula? Bioavailability! Putting Calcium in the bottle does not mean it gets into bone. See Fogleman AD, et al.
What is the question here? Obviously bones and muscles develop in parallel. Was the question whether bottle fed babies develop better? If so, it is not worth entertaining such a question.
please be aware that any reflection should consider the target population, limited to term neonates only, or do we also consider preterm neonates ?
Yes, the situation is different with preterm babies.Breast milk alone may not meet all their needs, but it is vitally important that they receive breast milk
Yes, breast milk consumption resulted in an average daily calcium intake of 200 mg, which is sufficient for optimal bone development during infancy, although preterm babies need more and made them in need for Calcium supplement.
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