Infancy is the most crucial period in a human being’s life span. The type of stimulus a baby receives can easily influence its growth pattern and ultimately its health. And amongst the type of stimuli that can potentially make a difference, nutrition can definitely be considered as one of the most influential factors. So naturally, breast milk, being a source of several nutrients especially for infants, plays a big role in aiding healthy growth. Let us now take a deeper look into this, to truly understand the importance of breast milk.

One of the most crucial constituents of breast milk are Human milk oligosaccharides or HMOs in short. They have been found to have a significant effect on an infant’s growth pattern. At the core of it, HMOs are basically complex sugars that cannot be directly digested by babies. That being said, they are still a vital ingredient as they serve as prebiotics by influencing the composition of gut microbiome. Researchers have found that there can be upto 150 of these microbe infections preventing HMOS in breastmilk. But most of them are present in unique quantities in females, depending upon factors such as genetics and the types of HMO processing enzymes that they may have. 

To find further details, the researchers conducted a study on a sample set of 800 pairs of finnish mothers and their children. During this study, the researchers examined the concentrations of 2’- fucosyllactose (2’FL) and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT), 2 important HMOs that are now added to most commercial infant formulas. The collected samples were taken from mothers whose children were 3 months old.

Through their research, the scientists observed that the breast milk of mothers whose infants were taller and heavier comparatively has lesser diversity in HMO composition, and had higher quantities of 2’FL with lower LNnT levels. Furthermore, the researchers also found that similar patterns were found in the breast milk of mothers who were overweight. Just like the previous case, they also had lesser HMO diversity, with high 2’FL and low LNnt concentrations.

By combining these results with previous studies that the researchers conducted, they found similar HMO patterns and child growth amongst different groups of mothers. This study may not have shown HMO diversity and early child growth, but it has definitely confirmed the relevance of the mother’s weight in determining the concentrations of crucial ingredients in breast milk. And moreover, with further studies, the researchers believe that they can connect more dots and ultimately provide treatment for early childhood growth problems through the usage of specific HMOs.