Argumentative Essay Sample: Breast Milk Is Better Than Formula

Breastfeeding is very important to the baby and the mother, and it has been approved by many researchers. It is clearly shown that breast milk is the nutrition that is best for the newborn. Breastfeeding offers a remarkable health benefit to both the baby and the mother. Breast milk is mostly recommended to cater to the nutrition of the baby for the first six months after birth. Therefore for the breastfeeding to give full benefit, it should be initiated soon after the birth and to run for six months then weaning can be then initiated. Breastfeeding is not just like the formula feeding because breastfeeding has more to provide to the babies than what the formula feeding does. For example, breast milk is laden with antibodies that assist the baby fight off bacteria and viruses off which formula does not have.

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Breast milk helps the baby with the ideal nutrition because it has a perfect mix of protein, fat, and vitamin. All these are the requirement for the baby to grow healthier and strong. Breast milk contains antibodies called Secretory Immunoglobulin A that is protein in nature and is formed by the immune system after it is exposed to antigen. Secretory Immunoglobulin A is known to fight off germs, viruses, bacteria, and any illness and for this reason, it will be of paramount importance to the infant. Breastfeeding for at least for months can assists reduce food allergies, asthma and eczema for the babies at high-risk of getting those complications. However, the issue of breastfeeding to assist in preventing allergies and asthma is still further into the investigation by scholars. As well it is evident that breastfeeding assists to play a key role in preventing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This is because it has been noted that most of the babies who are not breastfed often have an illness such as upper respiratory infection and diarrhea and are normally linked to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Also, breast milk is well known to provide the required nutrition for the brain development of the baby, and this can help them a lot (Foulkes, 28)

Breastfeeding also has numerous benefits to the mother as well. Firstly, breastfeeding helps the mother burn the extra calories in the body and its results in the process of making milk. As a result of burned calories, the mother can lose pregnancy weight faster. Also, it is evident that when the mother is breastfeeding there is the release of the hormone called oxytocin that is responsible for helping the mother uterus to return to its size before pregnancy and as a result of that uterine bleeding after birth may be reduced. Furthermore, breastfeeding lowers the ovarian and breast cancer and as well as lower the risk of osteoporosis among the breastfeeding mothers. This is because it noted that after lactation the breast normally shed a lot of tissue and in turn, it can get rid of cells that contain damaged DNA, which is responsible for giving rise to cancer. However, it should be noted that it is not the only way to get rid of breast cancer because also men get breast cancer, so there are other solutions for breast cancer (Wolf and Joan B, 30)

It is healthier to breastfeed than to formula feed because it is evident that the babies who have undergone breastfeed for the first six months have fewer respiratory illnesses, ear infection, and sessions of diarrhea as compared to the babies who have undergone formula feed. The reason is that the studies have found that the key risk factors to the AOM (acute otitis media) included lack of breastfeeding and regular pathological upper respiratory tract infection. It is evident that upon breastfeeding the risk of AOM is directly reduced, and in turn, the risk of the upper respiratory infection is reduced because it is linked to AOM. Also, it is evident that breastfeed help to strengthen the relationship between the baby and the mother of which the formula feed does not do. The reason is that interaction of the baby and the mother that results from breastfeeding is stronger even than when the baby was a fetus, and this makes the mother have less anxiety and sense of the connection towards the baby, unlike the formula feed where there is no proper interaction because non-mother can do that. The relationship can then be passed for many years until the baby becomes an adult without easily being broken and that is the reason you find may people respect their mothers a lot is because of than breastfeeding. (Hamosh, 28)

Moreover, it is evident that the energy that the breast milk normally gives is more efficiently utilized as compared to the energy that results from the formula. The reason I say so is that the breast milk contains more of the vitamins, fats, and protein in it that when taken by the babies they can utilize unlike the formula which cannot be utilized because it doesn't have a lot of nutrients in it. As well it is evident that human milk contains unsaturated and saturated fats that are more digestible to the baby unlike the fats in the formula.

Works Cited

Foulkes, Sian, Gemma Trays, and Carol Sullivan. Pediatrics. , 2018. Print.

Hamosh, Margit, and Armond S. Goldman. Human Lactation 2: Maternal and Environmental Factors. New York: Plenum Press, 1986. Internet resource.

Wolf, Joan B. Is Breast Best?: Taking on the Breastfeeding Experts and the New High Stakes of Motherhood. , 2013. Print.