Human milk oligosaccharides, beneficial to infant growth and development, are oligosaccharides naturally occurring in human milk. This paper describes the composition and functions of human milk oligosaccharides as well as their role in infant growth and analyzes the reason for adding oligosaccharides in infant formula, aiming to provide useful guidelines for the research and development of infant formula foods.

The unified dietary reference intakes (DRIs) have been introduced in China. Nevertheless, there are wide regional variations in dietary intake and nutritional status of lactating mothers across the country, which are associated with geographic environment, life style, socio-economic and culture factors, education level, etc even within the same region. The nutritional status of both lactating mothers and their infants is influenced by maternal dietary intake. Hence, understanding of dietary intake and nutritional status of lactating mothers from different regions of China is meaningful for formulating appropriate guidelines.