Proper nutrition is vital for survival, mental and physical growth, productivity, and health over the individual's lifespan from the fetal development stage to adulthood. During the newborn stage, proper nutrition is essential since it facilitates optimal physical growth and mental development. In addition, newborn feeding entails more than offering nutrition since, during feeding, the newborn and parent can have social and psychological interaction. In this case, the parent can form a strong bond with the newborn. In addition, newborn feeding can establish a background for proper eating habits that last for the entire newborn's lifespan.
What Newborn Should Consume
It is recommended that newborns be fed with breast milk for the initial six months of their lives. After the first six months, complementary foods can be introduced to the newborn. It is also recommended that breastfeeding is continued for another one or more years, depending on the desire of the mother and infant. Various organizations, such as AWHONN and AAFP, highly encourage breastfeeding as the best form of infant nutrition. Scientific evidence proves that human milk offers the best nutrition for newborns. The milk is species-specific and uniquely designed to satisfy the needs of newborns. The composition of breast milk changes to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the newborn.
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Breast milk is significantly complex due to its anti-infective and growth factor elements, live cells, proteins, amino acids, complex sugars, enzymes, hormones, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and microRNAs. The live cells incorporate both stem cells that assist organs to develop and white blood cells that provide immunity. The milk has more than 1000 proteins that promote the newborn's growth and development. Moreover, the proteins activate the newborn's immune system while protecting neurons in their brain. The complex sugars act as the newborn's prebiotics and, in this sense, provide the newborn with good bacteria (Verduci et al., 2014) . Moreover, the sugars prevent the newborn from having infections in their bloodstream. They also reduce the newborn's risk of developing inflammation. The enzymes promote nutrient digestion and absorption by catalyzing chemical reactions in the newborn's body. The growth factors promote the infant's healthy development since they affect various parts of their body, for instance, intestines, blood vessels, and hormone-secreting glands. The hormones in the breast milk send messages between the newborn's organs and tissues to guarantee proper organ growth and regulate the infant's sleep patterns and appetite. The vitamins and minerals, for instance, calcium, iron, folate, vitamin A, and vitamin D, support the infant's healthy growth and organ function (Prentice et al., 2016) . Moreover, they assist in strengthening the infant's teeth and bones. The antibodies safeguard the newborn from diseases and infections by destroying bacteria and viruses. Breast milk has 1400 microRNAs, which support the infant's immune system. The fatty acids are vital for the growth and development of the newborn's brain. Evidently, breast milk is the perfect food for the newborn's digestive system since it contains all the necessary elements required by the newborn. In addition, all of its components are easily digestible.
Breastfeeding also provides benefits to mothers. Nursing mothers who breastfeed their babies can burn calories and become fitter quickly in this case. In addition, breastfeeding can protect mothers from developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. During breastfeeding, the skin-to-skin contact between the newborn and the mother can promote a strong emotional connection (Prentice et al., 2016) . The provision of complete nourishment by the mother can promote confidence in her capacity to care for the infant. In this scenario, the infant will benefit from the mother's continuous nourishment since they will not be neglected.
In addition to breastfeeding, formula feeding can also be used in providing the newborn with nutrition. The infant formula is produced mostly from cow's milk. The milk is manufactured so that it is similar as much as possible to breast milk. In this case, nutrients are typically added to the cow's milk. Resultantly, the formula fed to the newborn contains iron, proteins, minerals including calcium and zinc, and carbohydrates in the form of lactose (Gale et al., 2012) . Additionally, it contains various vitamins such as vitamin A, D, and E. Essential fatty acids including DHA and ARA, nucleotides, and prebiotics are typically added to the milk to ensure the formula resembles breast milk.
Newborns born prematurely or with a low birth weight require special nutrition to assist them in catching up on growth. Resultantly, they are given fortifiers in addition to breast milk. The fortifiers typically contain additional calories, additional fat, vitamins, proteins, and minerals to ensure the newborn adds weight quickly.
Conclusion
Overall, breast milk is the primary source of the newborn's nutrition. For this reason, breastfeeding is highly encouraged to ensure the newborn realizes positive growth outcomes. Formula feeding can also be used in providing nutrition to the newborn, but its benefits are dwarfed by those provided by breastfeeding. In this regard, mothers should feed their newborns with breast milk to ensure they exploit the numerous benefits and, in effect, guarantee the healthy growth of their newborns.
References
Gale, C., Logan, K. M., Santhakumaran, S., Parkinson, J. R., Hyde, M. J., & Modi, N. (2012). Effect of breastfeeding compared with formula feeding on infant body composition: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , 95 (3), 656-669. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.111.027284
Prentice, P., Ong, K. K., Schoemaker, M. H., van Tol, E. A., Vervoort, J., Hughes, I. A., ... & Dunger, D. B. (2016). Breast milk nutrient content and infancy growth. Acta Paediatrica , 105 (6), 641-647. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.13362
Verduci, E., Banderali, G., Barberi, S., Radaelli, G., Lops, A., Betti, F., ... & Giovannini, M. (2014). Epigenetic effects of human breast milk. Nutrients , 6 (4), 1711-1724. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6041711
