"A little dash of breast milk works like a daily vaccine," Gro Nylander, doctor at the National Expertise Center for Breastfeeding, told newspaper Adresseavisen.
The national Board of Health advises Norwegian women to breastfeed during the infant's first year, but doctor and researcher Nylander believes this is a moderate recommendation.
"New research shows that children have much to gain by having breast milk until they are two to three years old. There is a reason why the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for the first two years of a child's life," Nylander said.
Eighty percent of Norwegian infants are breastfed at six months, and 36 percent are still getting breast milk when they are a year old.
"The proven positive effects in the first months of a child's life do not suddenly cease because the child is a year old. Since the child eats more normal food breast milk is obviously not so central as nutrition," Nylander said.
Nylander said that breast milk continues to supply antibodies more efficiently than the child's own system can, and this is why children who breastfeed are less often sick than other children.
