World breastfeeding week 2018: the foundation of life 1-7 August
Did you know that less than half of the world’s babies are breastfed? The world breastfeeding week aims to raise awareness about the importance of breastfeeding. Now of course there are cases where breastfeeding is difficult or maybe not even possible for a mum and/or a baby, but there are many incidences where this is not the case but still breastfeeding is not happening. Why is this? Is it the power of advertising of the formula companies? Is it inconvenience? What is it?
As the World Alliance for breastfeeding writes ”Protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding is crucial for the health of our planet and its people.” (http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/) It helps prevent malnutrition, it is a source of food even when there is a crisis or natural disaster and it helps to break the cycle of poverty.
According to WHO, a study showed that shorter breastfeeding duration led to a 2.6 point lower IQ score. It is also associated with a global economic loss of $302billion annually (http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/). The other thing is that the quality of a woman’s milk is not affected by her nutritional status, except for in the case of extremely malnourished women (1% of women).
Did you know that evidence shows that breastfeeding is associated with lower rates of breast & ovarian cancers, it lowers hypertension and for the breastfed child it lowers rate of infectious diseases, it helps with diarrohea, it lowers respiratory infections and it also prevents malnutrition.
Did you also know that to produce 1 litre of formula, 4000 litres of water is used?
“A sustainable and more equal world begins with efforts to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Malnutrition, food insecurity and poverty affect
millions and stand in the way of sustainable development.” (WBW2018)
http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/