Mario Tavera, UNICEF's health officer in Peru,
estimated exclusive formula feeding now costs an average US$ 575 for the first six months of life, prompting needy mothers to «over-dilute the formula or use other milks... thus leading to malnutrition, allergies, and even death,» he warned.
The number of infants receiving mixed
feeding was too small (table 1) to
estimate precisely its effect on diarrhoeal disease, and for further analysis they were combined either with
exclusive breast milk or with
formula.