Prolonged breastfeeding, myths and realities from nutrition

Abstract

The World Health Organization recommends starting breastfeeding during the first hour of the baby's life, continuing its practice exclusively up to six months and complementing it with adequate nutrition up to two years or more. In Ecuador, rates are low, which is due, in part, to the fact that there are many beliefs that hinder its effective practice. Aim. Identify beliefs regarding BF and confirm whether or not there is scientific evidence to support them. Materials and methods. A literature review was carried out in different databases and other bibliographic sources. We searched for 40 studies and documents on the myths and realities around published between 2019 and 2024 and written in English and Spanish. Results. The initial search yielded 145 records, but only 40 met the inclusion criteria, which were grouped into 4 categories of beliefs: 3 established by Unicef (beliefs regarding the mother, the quality of the milk and what the baby needs) and 1 established by the authors (other beliefs). The superiority of breastfeeding over any other type of food, its fat content, proteins, immune and biologically active components play an important role in the protective effect for both the health of the infant and the mother.