Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives

by Patricia Stuart-Macadam

Breastfeeding is a biocultural not only is it a biological process, but it is also a culturally determined behavior. As such, it has important implications for understanding the past, present, and future condition of our species. In general, scholars have emphasized either the biological or the cultural aspects of breastfeeding, but not both. As biological anthropologists the editors of this volume feel that an evolutionary approach combining both aspects is essential. One of the goals of their book is to incorporate data from diverse fields to present a more holistic view of breastfeeding, through the inclusion of research from a number of different disciplines, including biological and social/cultural anthropology, nutrition, and medicine. The resulting book, presenting the complexity of the issues surrounding very basic decisions about infant nutrition, will fill a void in the existing literature on breastfeeding.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

444 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1995

Reviews

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book about breastfeeding. I had to be careful not to read when I was too tired and I will admit that sometimes I had to read a sentence or paragraph a couple of times before I felt that I could go on. I love all the amazing information about breastfeeding that was in this book. I would not particularly recommend it as the first book you should read about breastfeeding because a lot of it was very heavy. However, if you are curious about breastfeeding, it is a great book. This book talks not only about the benefits of breastfeeding and cultural practices of breastfeeding, but it includes all the science of how they figured out what is good. I appreciate that it also gives the strengths and weaknesses of some of the study methods. It was a good analytical approach to looking at breastfeeding. It gave me more confidence in my decision to breastfeed my daughter for as long as she wants.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read this one cover-to-cover and it was very enlightening. Not really a novel, easy-read, but I thought it was worth it. It was interesting to see how anthropologists view breastfeeding and have viewed it in the past. It was also interesting to read the research and the conclusions that were drawn from it. Of course, it's always nice to read something academic by an acquaintance (a Utah LLL Leader co-authored one of the studies in this book).

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for the physiologial, psychological, environmental, sociological benefits of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding v. formula-feeding is more than a personal preference, there is extensive scholarly studies done on the benefits of breastfeeding!