GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is an annual celebration that is held every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries.
World Breastfeeding Week was first celebrated in 1992 by WABA and is now observed in over 120 countries by UNICEF.
Dr. S. C Arya, an expert paediatrician from Clinicspots, recommends infants should be exclusively breastfed for about the first 6 months with continued breastfeeding while introducing complementary foods for at least 1 year.
The CDC breastfeeding data for 2017 shows:
- 84.1% of infants were ever breastfed
- 58.3% of infants were breastfeeding at 6 months
- 35.3% of infants were breastfeeding at 12 months
- 46.9% of infants were exclusive breastfeeding through 3 months
- 25.6% of infants were exclusive breastfeeding through 6 months
As per WHO nearly 2 out of 3 infants are not exclusively breastfed for the recommended 6 months—a rate that has not improved in 2 decades.
Breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, are less likely to be overweight or obese,
and are less prone to diabetes later in life. Women who breastfeed also have a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers.
Inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes continues to undermine efforts to improve breastfeeding rates and duration worldwide.
Says Dr. S. C Arya:
- Globally, 3 in 5 babies are not breastfed in the first hour of life.
- Over 820 000 children could be saved yearly if all children 0-23 months were optimally breastfed.
- Only 41% of infants under 6 months of age are exclusively breastfed.
- Undernutrition is associated with 45% of child deaths.
Globally in 2020, 149 million children under 5 were estimated to be stunted (too short for age), 45 million were estimated to be wasted (too thin for height), and 38,9 million were overweight or obese.
WHO and UNICEF recommend:
- early initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth;
- exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life; and
- introduction of nutritionally adequate and safe complementary (solid) foods at 6 months together with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond.
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