Ending Seven Years Of Controvery
In 1994 the World Health Assembly, the policy-setting body of WHO, adopted a Resolution (WHA 47.5) calling for complementary feeding to be fostered from “about 6 months” � i.e. for exclusive breastfeeding to be promoted to about six months. However, many manufacturers of complementary foods continue today to label products for use before six months of age, putting infants at increased risk of diarrheal disease and death. While the health community has been pointing to research demonstrating the hazards of early complementary feeding, the baby food industry has lobbied member states of the World Health Organization and other international bodies, such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission, to support the introduction of complementary foods at the age of “4 to 6 months” (see British Medical Journal 9 September 2000). The issue was debated again at the WHO Executive Board Meeting in Geneva in January 2001. A proposed draft Resolution was accepted by the Executive Board in which the options of “about 6 months” or “4 to 6 months” were left to be determined by the Fifty-fourth World Health Assembly in May 2001, giving the Expert Consultation time to make its recommendations. Over 3000 scientific references were identified, reviewed and evaluated. The outcome of this review was subject to a global peer review and finally the scrutiny of the Expert Consultation.
