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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #71784
Title: LACTATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF ADOLESCENT MOTHERS DIFFERS FROM THAT OF MATURE ADULT FEMALES

Author
item Motil, Kathleen
item KERTZ, BARBARA - BAYLOR COLL OF MEDICINE
item THOTATHUCHERY, MARY - BAYLOR COLL OF MEDICINE

Submitted to: Journal of Adolescent Health
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/11/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: We wanted to find out whether the teenage mother can produce enough milk for her child, what the milk is composed of, and what is her lactational behavior - such as how often she nurses and feeds formula or complementary foods - then compare her lactational performance and behavior to the adult mother's. We studied 11 teenage and 11 adult lactating females who had just tborne a child. The teens produced much less milk than the adults, and thei milk failed to meet their babies' nutritional needs. The groups' milk composition was similar, and it remained the same within each group throughout breastfeeding. But behaviorally, the teens did not nurse as long or as often as the adults, and they gave their babies more formula. Strategies aimed at changing teen moms' behavior -- increasing their daily nursing duration and decreasing formula feedings -- might improve their milk production ability to meet their babies' nutritional needs.

Technical Abstract: Objectives: To characterize the adequacy of milk production, milk composition, and lactational behavior of adolescent mothers, and to compare their lactational performance with that of adult females. Study design: Twenty-two lactating mothers, 11 adolescents and 11 adults, were studied at 6- week intervals between 6 and 24 weeks postpartum. Milk production was determined by the test- weighing procedure. Milk nutrient composition was determined by proximate analysis using bomb calorimetry, micro-Kjeldahl methods, atomic absorptiometry, and enzymatic and calorimetric methods. Frequency and duration of nursing, and use of supplemental formula and complementary foods were recorded. Results: The amount of milk adolescents produced at 6, 12, 18, and 24 weeks postpartum was on average 37% to 54% less (p<0.05) than that of the adults. Milk, energy, lactose, fat, protein, sodium, potassium, calcium, and phosphorus concentrations were not significantly different between groups. The total daily duration of nursing, estimated from the frequency and duration of each feeding, was significantly shorter in adolescents than in adults. Supplemental formula, but not complementary foods, were offered more frequently during early lactation to the infants of adolescents than of adults. Conclusion: The lactational performance of adolescent mothers differs from that of adult females and is insufficient to support the nutritional needs of their infants. Behavioral strategies that increase the total daily duration of nursing and reduce the frequency of supplemental formula feedings may enhance the lactational performance of adolescent mothers.