Effect of Dietary Supplementation on Lactation Performance of Undernourished Burmese Mothers

Researchers in Burma randomly divided 21 undernourished lactating mothers between 18-35 years old into 2 groups to learn the effect of food supplementation on lactation. The cases received a dish of curry (animal protein cooked in oil) 2 time/day to supplement their meals. Health personnel measured the mothers height weight and skinfold thickness and the infants weights at the beginning of the study and 14 days later. Mothers collected breast milk between 9-10 a.m. at the inception of the study and 2 weeks later. Mothers in the supplemented group significantly increased milk production from a mean of 661.9 g/day-787.3 g/day (p<.001) while milk production for those in the control group basically remained the same. Further milk intake of the infants of the cases also rose significantly from a mean of 570.5 g/day- 672.9 g/day (p<.01) and that of the infants of the controls stayed the same. Cases consumed an increased mean of 906 calories/day and 39.4 g of protein/day compared to basal levels (p<.001). Even though the weight gain for cases was not significant the number of skinfolds was significant (p<.001). There were no significant changes in weight or in the number of skinfolds for controls. All infants gained weight but no significant difference existed between the 2 groups. This study shows that supplementing the diet of undernourished lactating mother does indeed increase milk production and increase fat stores. Nevertheless earlier research demonstrated that undernutrition does not affect the major components of breast milk -- protein fat and lactose.