To encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world, World Breastfeeding Week is annually celebrated from August 1 to 7. It is celebrated by 170 countries to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding says WHO, because breastfed children are more intellectual and fit, it explains. Every year, this week is celebrated with a unique theme and this year’s theme is ‘Step Up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support.’
As World Breastfeeding Week is being commemorated, it is vital to spread awareness about the importance of education and support for breastfeeding. It’s not a social stigma but a requirement that shapes a child’s physical and mental wellbeing.
- Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival. Globally, only 40% of infants under six months of age are exclusively breastfed.
- If breastfeeding were scaled up to near-universal levels, about 8,20,000 child lives would be saved every year, states the study, Breastfeeding in the 21st Century: Epidemiology, Mechanisms and Lifelong Effect.
- Breastfeeding for the first six months is crucial, WHO recommends:
A. Mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth
B. Infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health, and thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods, while continuing to be breastfed
C. Breastfeeding should continue for up to two years or beyond
- India has reported a significant decline in children under three years of age who are breastfed within one hour of birth. According to the National Family Health Survey – 5, among 22 states and UTs, Sikkim has reported the sharpest decline of 33.5 per cent in initiating breastfeeding within an hour of birth.
- On the other hand, Lakhshwadeep and Meghalaya have both shown over 18 per cent of the increase in breastfeeding within one hour of birth, reports the survey.
- Breastfeeding protects infants from childhood illnesses, gives them all the nutrients and contains antibodies that help protect them from common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea and pneumonia, according to WHO.
- WHO also says that breastfeeding benefits mothers as well, as exclusive breastfeeding is associated with a natural method of birth control with 98% protection in the first six months after birth.
- It reduces the risks of breast and ovarian cancer, type II diabetes, and postpartum depression for mothers, says WHO.
- Breastfeeding has long-term benefits for children, adolescents and adults who were breastfed as babies are less likely to be overweight or obese, according to WHO.
- Breastfed children are less likely to have type-II diabetes and perform better in intelligence tests, WHO states.
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