Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan does not change the composition of breast milk
Introduction
Sustained fasting over a period of time is or has been a feature of several of the world’s great religions. For Islam, the whole of the holy month of Ramadan is a time of strictly observed fasting during the daylight hours [1]. This month-long regime of intermittent fasting every year is peculiar to Islam and during Ramadan, all healthy adults are obliged to abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. Fasting is not obligatory for children nor menstruating women and the sick and travelers are also excused. Pregnant and lactating women also usually observe Ramadan fasting although they are permitted to postpone fasting until another month [2]. Because the Islamic year is shorter than the Gregorian year, Ramadan, the ninth month of Islamic Lunar calendar of Hijrah, moves forward about 11 days every year. Ramadan can, therefore, occur in any of the four seasons and the duration of fasting can vary from 11 to 18 hours depending upon the exact time of sunrise and sunset in each country or region [3].
Globally, up to about 800 million Muslims strictly observe Ramadan fasting by going without food and water from sunrise to sunset during the entire month [2], [4]. This pattern of intermittent activity and fasting is different from normal fasting or ongoing food deprivation which has been widely studied [5], [6], [7], [8]. To date only limited studies on the physiological effects of altered activity and feeding schedule associated with Ramadan fasting have been reported [3], [4], [9], [10].
It is well established that breastfeeding of infants is associated with their better biological, psychological and intellectual development [11]. The effects of mothers’ diet on the composition of their milk has been extensively reviewed by Lonnerdal [12], but no studies appear to have been made of the effects of Ramadan fasting on milk components. Therefore, the present study, was initiated to determine whether breast milk composition is altered in mothers observing Ramadan fasting by taking for analysis milk samples during and after the month of Ramadan.
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Subjects
A prospective descriptive study was conducted in the Muwaijihi Primary Health Care (PHC) Clinic of the Al-Ain Medical District of United Arab Emirates. Twenty six nursing mothers of Muslim faith and mixed nationality in the age range of 20 to 38 years (mean 27.0 ± 5.0) and who were engaged mainly in housework and sedentary activity, volunteered for the study. None of the subjects was clinically obese and their mean height and weight were 158.7 ± 6.0 cm, 66.5 ± 12.0 kg respectively. The subjects
Results
Table 1 gives the socio-demographic characteristics of the mothers who were included in the study. Most of the subjects had only a basic level of education with an average attendance at school of 8.5 ± 5.8 years. At the time of the study, two thirds (65%) lived in flats or villas with the remainder (35%) living in traditional mud dwellings The average income per month per family was 1919 ± 1062 US Dollars.
Table 2 shows the values for fat, protein, lactose, total and non-fat solids,
Discussion
Fasting during Ramadan is from sunrise to sunset, but is a variable pattern of behavior since the actual period of abstinence may be anything between 11 and 18 hours. The period may be particularly long for Muslim living northern latitudes when Ramadan falls during the summer months [3]. In general, there is some evidence from Saudi Arabia [17], [18], that there is a reduction in feeding frequency during Ramadan, but that each meal is nutritionally more dense than meals taken outside of
Conclusion
The current study showed that breast milk quality and composition in nursing mothers was unaffected by Ramadan fasting.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the participating infant mothers in this study. Also, we are grateful to the Head of Muwaijihi PHC Clinic Dr. Adeeb Alshadli and Head Nurse Mrs. L. Varghese for their help and cooperation throughout the study.
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