Low levels of breastfeeding put children at risk
Children in developing countries are being put at unnecessary risk of disease and death as they are fed alternatives to breast milk. According to a study published in BMC Medicine today, the amount of breastfeeding taking place falls a long way short of recommended levels.
In 2001 the World Health Organization (WHO) passed a resolution recommending that infants under six months of age were fed exclusively on breast milk, in part to protect them from malnutrition, pneumonia and waterborne diseases. Yet only two in five infants this age from developing countries are fed only on breast milk, and more than five percent of them are not breastfed at all.
In Africa only a quarter of infants under six months of age are fed exclusively on breast milk. The studys authors write: “The size of the gap between breastfeeding practice and recommendations is striking. More attention should be given to increasing breastfeeding, especially exclusive breastfeeding, and to monitoring breastfeeding trends.”
The group of WHO researchers, led by Jeremy Lauer, examined a large number of studies about breastfeeding rates. These nationally representative surveys covered 94 developing countries. Their research revealed that although mothers are advised to continue breastfeeding their children up until they are two years old, on average 14% of children aged 6-11 months and 32% of children aged 12-23 months are not given any breast milk.
The rates of continued breastfeeding are particularly low in South America and the Caribbean with only 37% of children over one year old being fed at least some breast milk. The situation is probably worse that this study concludes, as the original surveys may well have overestimated the number of children that are exclusively breastfed.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.biomedcentral.comAll latest news from the category: Health and Medicine
This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.
Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.
Newest articles
Successful experiment paves the way for new element
Scientists have found an alternative way to produce atoms of the superheavy element livermorium. The new method opens up the possibility of creating another element that could be the heaviest…
A new spectroscopy reveals water’s quantum secrets
For the first time, EPFL researchers have exclusively observed molecules participating in hydrogen bonds in liquid water, measuring electronic and nuclear quantum effects that were previously accessible only via theoretical…
A ‘new synthetic frontier’ for quantum dots
Replacing organic solvents with molten salt lets researchers grow “previously unimaginable nanocrystals”. The type of semiconductive nanocrystals known as quantum dots are both expanding the forefront of pure science and…