Table 2.

Macronutrient and energy content in breast milk in prolonged lactation.

Breast Milk Macronutrient Content	Group
	1–12 Month n = 25	12–18 Month n = 35	18–24 Month n = 41	>24 Month n = 34
Carbohydrate [g/dL]	7.09 ± 0.43	7.03 ± 0.56	6.56 ± 0.93 **	6.29 ± 0.99
	7.2	7.20	6.8	6.6
	6.86–7.30	7.00–7.30	6.40–7.10	5.8–6.9
			p < 0.0002
Fat [g/dL]	3.46 ± 0.87	4.91 ± 2.04 *	5.77 ± 2.28 **	7.95 ± 2.48 ***
	3.30	4.60	5.60	7.50
	2.80–3.90	3.50–5.55	4.40–7.10	6.40–9.40
		p < 0.002	p < 0.04	p < 0.0003
Protein [g/dL]	1.08 ± 0.25	1.04 ± 0.38	1.24 ± 0.64 **	1.85 ± 0.87 ***
	1.00	0.90	1.1	1.6
	0.90–1.30	0.80–1.10	0.90–1.35	1.25–2.4
			p < 0.03	p < 0.000005
True protein [g/dL]	0.86 ± 0.2	0.83 ± 0.32	1 ± 0.52 **	1.51 ± 0.71 ***
	0.80	0.70	0.90	1.30
	0.70–1.10	0.65–0.90	0.70–1.00	1.00–1.90
			p < 0.02	p < 0.000003
Total solids [g/dL]	11.86 ± 0.95	13.19 ± 2.21 *	13.82 ± 2	16.28 ± 2.59 ***
	12.0	13.1	13.80	15.75
	11.20–12.70	11.65–13.70	12.40–15.20	14.40–17.55
		p < 0.007		p < 0.00003
Energy [kcal/dL]	65.76 ± 7.92	78.34 ± 21.72 *	85.78 ± 20.07 **	106.5 ± 23.46 ***
	63.0	76.0	89.5	102.0
	61–71	64–83	73.5–98	89–118
		p < 0.006	p < 0.04	p < 0.0002

Values are given as the mean ± SD, median and 25th–75th percentiles. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for statistical calculations, and a p-value lower than 0.05 was regarded as significant. Significantly different from the milk group of: * 1–12 months of lactation, ** 12–18 months of lactation, *** 18–24 months of lactation.