Cebu City - Why is breastfeeding recommended? What is there in breast milk that it is more preferred and recommended by health experts rather than formula milk?

Here are the main reasons why:

• Breast milk has the right balance of nutrients a baby needs, including protein, carbohydrates, fat, calcium, vitamins, and minerals.
  
  
• Breastmilk has many disease-fighting factors. They help prevent mild to severe infections and hospitalization.
  
  
• The nutrients in breastmilk are better absorbed and used by your baby. It is best for your baby’s brain growth and nervous system development.
  
  
• Breastfed babies have far fewer digestive, lung, and ear infections.
  

Breastmilk is the ideal food for infants. It is safe, clean and contains antibodies which help protect against many common childhood illnesses. Breastmilk provides all the energy and nutrients that the infant needs for the first six months of life, and it continues to provide up to half or more of a child’s nutritional needs during the second half of the first year, and up to one third during the second year of life.

Breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, are less likely to be overweight or obese and less prone to diabetes later in life. // PDO I Joyce M. Santillan, RND

Reference:
Breast Milk Is Best | Johns Hopkins Medicine