Breast not best after four months, says expert

A bestselling children's food writer has rubbished official advice that babies should be fed only breast milk for the first six months.

Annabel Karmel said a generation of children could end up having health problems because breast milk did not contain enough essential nutrients needed for their development.

Mrs Karmel, a 50-year-old mother-ofthree whose recipe books have sold more than two million copies, said: "The current recommendation is weaning should only start at six months. But I believe it should be earlier because of the need for iron in a baby's diet.

"They need the essential fatty acids and iron you get from fish and meat at a time of huge mental and physical development. If they miss out at that stage they can never catch up. "

But Alison Johnson of the Breastfeeding Coalition said: "The World Health Organisation initially put out the advice that babies should be fed exclusively on breast milk for six months. It is endorsed by every branch of the National Childbirth Trust."

Only a quarter of UK mothers are still breastfeeding at six months, one of the lowest rates in the developed world.