Effect of breastfeeding on infant and child mortality due to infectious diseases in less developed countries: a pooled analysis. WHO Collaborative Study Team on the Role of Breastfeeding on the Prevention of Infant Mortality.

Abstract

These results may help shape policy decisions about feeding choices in the face of the HIV epidemic. Of particular relevance is the need to account for declining levels of protection with age in infancy, the continued protection afforded during the second year of life, and the question of the safety of breastmilk substitutes in families of low socioeconomic status.