Preventing Mothers Feeding Cow's Milk Too Early

Some low-income mothers are more likely than others to introduce their infants to cow's milk too soon. In doing so, they may put their children at risk of health complications, according to a study by researchers at Penn State and the Institute for Children and Poverty, New York.

The study showed that women who enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's WIC program during their first or second trimester of pregnancy - from week one to week twenty-seven - were far less likely to introduce cow's milk too soon than women who enrolled in WIC during their third trimester or who did not enroll at all.

"What this study tells us is that if we intervene by enrolling low-income women in WIC earlier on in their pregnancies, it will be healthier for the babies," said Daphne Hernandez, assistant professor of human development and family studies, Penn State.