The bibliographical sources consulted were articles published in indexed scientific reviews, books, documents from the World Health Organization and the Brazilian Ministry of Health and national and State reports on the prevalence of and measures taken to promote maternal breast feeding. The data base used was PubMed and the period covered was 1952 - 2008. Other articles were identified from bibliographical references in the aforementioned sources of information. The present study deals with historical aspects of maternal breast feeding, scientific evidence of the short-and long-term effects, the factors associated with breastfeeding, the various methods employed, its duration and prevalence. It is concluded that, although the importance of this practice for the mother, child, family, community and the state is already well-known and despite the many efforts to promote, protect and provide support for breast feeding, the results show that these international goals and recommendations are still far from being met.
Breast feeding; Child Health; Women's Health