Breastfeeding

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More About This Textbook

Overview

Breastfeeding is a biocultural phenomenon: not only is it a biological process, but is also a culturally determined behavior. As such, it has important implications for understanding the past, present, and future condition of our species. In general, scholars have emphasized either the biological or the cultural aspects of breastfeeding, but not both. As biological anthropologists the editors of this volume feel that an evolutionary approach combining both aspects is essential. One of the goals of their book is to incorporate data from diverse fields to present a more holistic view of breastfeeding, through the inclusion of research from a number of different disciplines, including biological and social/cultural anthropology, nutrition, and medicine. The resulting book, presenting the complexity of the issues surrounding very basic decisions about infant nutrition, will fill a void in the existing literature breastfeeding.
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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
“This volume makes an important contribution to the literature on the biocultural nature of breastfeeding, a behavior that is critical to the survival of the human species…. [T]his collection provides a wealth of information about the interplay of culture and biology as they relate to breastfeeding and its influence on maternal and infant health. Many of the chapters have implications for the development of policy relating to the support of breastfeeding, such as the Family Leave Act and health care reform. This unique volume will thus be useful for health care professionals and health policy makers, as well as biological and cultural anthropologists.” —Anne L. Wright, Medical Anthropology Quarterly “One hundred years ago, the vast majority of infants in the United States were breastfed. They were typically weaned anywhere between two and four years of age. Today the statistics are quite different. At the present time, about one-half of infants in the United States are breastfed, and most are weaned by the time they are six months old. Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives examines the biological and cultural reasons for this shift in behavior…. This volume of fifteen chapters, by almost as many authors, provides readers with an abundance of information on breastfeeding.” —Christine A. Behrendt, The Quarterly Review of Biology
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Product Details

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
1 Biocultural Perspectives on Breastfeeding 1
2 A Time to Wean: The Hominid Blueprint for the Natural Age of Weaning in Modern Human Populations 39
3 Breastfeeding in Prehistory 75
4 The Culture and Biology of Breastfeeding: An Historical Review of Western Europe 101
5 Sociocultural Aspects of the Lactation Process 127
6 The Politics of Breastfeeding: An Advocacy Perspective 145
7 Beauty and the Breast: The Cultural Context of Brestfeeding in the United States 167
8 Baby-Controlled Breastfeeding: Biocultural Implications 217
9 Breastfeeding: Adaptive Behavior for Child Health and Longevity 243
10 Breastfeeding and Infant-Parent Co-Sleeping as Adaptive Strategies: Are They Protective against SIDS? 265
11 Breastfeeding, Fertility, and Maternal Condition 305
12 Breast Cancer, Reproductive Biology, and Breastfeeding 347
13 Commentary 385
14 Commentary 395
15 Commentary 405
Biographical Sketches of Contributors 419
Index 423
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Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 29, 2004

    This book has changed my life

    This book has changed my life! There is so much evidence and sound facts about why it is so important for a child to be breastfed until the age of 2.5- 7 years of age that a person would have to be deaf, dumb & blind to at last not consider it. It is because of this book, that I am going to continue to exclusively pump for my son until the age of 5 (he never latched). I would highly recommend this book for any breastfeeding mother that is considering whether or not she should continue to breastfed beyond the age of 12 months. Read this book. It will change your life. When I read it, not only did I see how humans create their own destruction, I saw the face of God.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 7, 2009

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