Data from the IAEA Breast Milk Consumption Database.
“The data published so far only come from a few countries. To be able to draw more robust conclusions that could help implement policies and practices, we need more data,” said Victor Ochieng Owino, a nutrition specialist at the IAEA. “The available data come mainly from countries in the Global South. So in the future it would be important to also look at data from countries in the Global North.”
The IAEA is supporting countries to use a non-radioactive or stable isotope technique to measure breast milk consumption and determine whether an infant is exclusively breastfed. This non-invasive technique (DTM) is more accurate in measuring breastfeeding exclusivity than the most commonly used approach, which involves asking mothers themselves what foods and fluids they are giving their infants. The DTM technique tracks the flow of deuterium, a naturally occurring stable isotope of hydrogen, as it is transferred from mother to infant in breast milk during breastfeeding. The IAEA encourages countries to use this technique to monitor progress toward exclusive breastfeeding goals. However, few high-income countries have used this method to date to measure breast milk consumption and breastfeeding exclusivity.
Learn more: What are isotopes? | IAEA
“We created the Breast Milk Database with the aim of creating a distinctive and expanding global repository of DTM data. Typically, individual studies on breast milk consumption are difficult to generalize due to their small sample sizes. Our goal is to bring these studies together in one place to facilitate innovative data analyses that improve our understanding of breastfeeding behavior and its determinants, thereby enabling the design of more effective interventions to promote breastfeeding,” said Cornelia Loechl, Head of the IAEA’s Environmental Studies, Nutrition and Health Section.
Data from the DTM technique are already informing public health policies in countries around the world. In a recent study, the DTM technique was used to determine the impact of promotional activities on exclusive breastfeeding. A collaborative study in Mauritania by the Ministry of Health, the IAEA, and UNICEF found that awareness campaigns nearly doubled the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in intervention areas compared to areas that had not yet benefited from these promotional efforts.
A study in South Africa, where exclusive breastfeeding rates were historically very low, found that mentoring and counselling programmes significantly improved exclusive breastfeeding rates, as assessed using the DTM technique.
This nuclear method has also enabled groundbreaking studies on the link between food security and breast milk production. An IAEA-funded research project in western Kenya showed that food insecurity is associated with lower breast milk consumption, potentially resulting from a lack of maternal nutrient intake. Prior to this study, the effects of food insecurity on breastfeeding had not been assessed using an objective measure of exclusive breastfeeding or the amount of breast milk consumed.
The IAEA Breast Milk Consumption Database was launched in 2022 and is currently gathering information from studies around the world that have already used the DTM technique in a variety of settings. Although still under development, this database will allow researchers to explore the relationships between breastfeeding practices and associated determinants, such as socioeconomic status, across the world.
For example, an initial data analysis was recently conducted using the DTM database to find associations between maternal education and infant breast milk consumption. It was concluded that there was no significant difference in breast milk consumption based on maternal education. Although this analysis did not find a conclusive association between breastfeeding and maternal education, comparisons by country Human Development Index (HDI) showed a trend toward higher breast milk consumption in settings with lower HDIs, further reinforcing the need for more data to objectively assess breastfeeding practices in high-income settings. More data are needed globally across diverse settings to provide more conclusive results. As a practical step towards protecting the survival and health of babies and women, breastfeeding is a central element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and is linked to many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Breastfeeding plays an important role in preventing malnutrition and protecting infants from infections, thereby reducing mortality. Breastfed children are also less likely to become overweight or obese, which contributes to meeting nutritional goals. In addition, breastfeeding women are less likely to develop cancer and type II diabetes, which improves maternal health. Breastfeeding promotes gender equality by addressing workplace rights and birth spacing issues.
More data are essential, from both high- and low-income countries, to fill the evidence gap and inform actions to improve breastfeeding and the health of future generations.
