Milk in the nutrition of children in Croatia

1937 children under 5 years of age were included in an epidemiological study which used the cluster method; their parents were questioned concerning the nutrition of their children born between 1991-1996. It was found that the percentage of breast-fed children is still decreasing, and that the situation is particularly alarming in the areas directly exposed to the war. Moreover, the situation with children who are not breast-fed is very unsatisfactory. Only 38.3% of these children are fed with industrial milk formulas, whilst the rest are fed with cow’s milk, and a great percentage with skimmed or diluted milk. This situation demands an intensive program of breast-feeding promotion, with additional health and social measures.