Infant feeding 1980.

Recent reports from the Canadian Pediatric Society's Nutrition Committee(1-5) have re-examined issues concerning the feeding of infants, and recommendations have been presented.In an article reviewing a similar report by the Nutrition Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Woodruff(6) refers to the art of infant feeding and the science of infant nutrition-the former being the practical application of the latter.The distinction is important. While the science of infant nutrition is obviously a complex area of expertise appropriate to pediatricians, factors affecting the art of infant feeding-the interplay between the needs of the infant and the community's current social and cultural beliefs and practices, between the recommendations of professional groups and food manufacturers' products and advertising-fall very definitely within the purview of the family physician.These two papers examine some of the current Canadian recommendations, their rationale and the practical problems they pose from a family practice viewpoint.