Experts: Breast-Feeding a 3-Year-Old Is Normal; Most Children around World Nursed for 3-5 Yrs.

The Slate website reports today (May 14, 2012) that the Time magazine cover photo this week of a mother nursing her 3-year-old son -- which has resulted in much discussion on this matter -- is quite normal for mothers around the world, according to experts.

"It's normal like a nine-month pregnancy is normal," one anthropologist tells the USA Today newspaper, noting that most children around the world are nursed for three to five years.

Jamie Lynne Grumet -- the 26-year-old California mom at the center of this controversy -- told ABC News she expected the controversy, but thought that "somebody has to start the dialogue" (on this matter).

The Time cover has brought to light the fact that moms in the United States are generally abandoning breast-feeding too early. By the time they reach their first year, fewer than 25 percent of children in the U.S. are getting breast milk, which is "a public health issue, because breast-feeding brings so many benefits to babies," writes Lauren Neergaard of the Associated Press (AP).