The Impact of Maternal Age on Human Milk Composition

Human milk provides both nutritional and non-nutritional benefits to infants and can meet an infant’s nutritional needs for the first six months of life. Human milk composition varies during lactation and is affected by maternal factors. Most investigations have reported on associations between maternal factors such as maternal diet, nutrition, and body mass index and the composition of human milk. There is, however, little information on the association between maternal age and the composition of human milk. In this review, we provide an overview of the nutrients in human milk based on maternal age rela-tionship between nutrients in human milk and maternal age and we highlight and identify the effect of maternal age on macronutrients and micronutrients.