ABSTRACT
There are many advantages of breast milk for infants. The impact of Ramadan fasting of breast-feeding mothers on their exclusively breast-fed infants' growth is still not clear. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of maternal Ramadan fasting on growth parameters of exclusively breast-fed infants. This cohort study was conducted during Ramadan and five months after Ramadan on 116 healthy, exclusively breast-fed infants aged 15 days to 6 months. 36 infants, whose mothers fasted throughout Ramadan [case group] and 80 infants, whose mothers did not fast [control group], were enrolled in the study. All infants underwent periodic physical examinations, twice in Ramadan, 3 times in the second month and twice monthly in the next 4 months. The data analyses were done using a repeated measure analysis of variance. Statistical significance was defined as P<0.05. Analyses were performed using SPSS statistical package and repeated measures ANOVA. All growth parameters increased during the study period [P< 0.05], rate of increase being the same for both groups [P>0.05]. There is obvious increasing trend for all growth parameters; this trend depends on age and is almost similar for both groups. Ramadan fasting by breast-feeding mothers did not adversely affect the growth parameters of exclusively breast-fed infants in short-term