World Breastfeeding Week
Friday, 3 August 2007
Parvez Babul
BREASTMILK is the God-given and unique natural food for infants and young children. Every year World Breastfeeding Week is observed worldwide including Bangladesh, between August 01 and 08. The slogan of this year is 'breastfeeding: Initiation in the first hour can save more than one million new-born babies'. The World Breastfeeding Alliance has stated that this week this year is set aside to promote and raise awareness that breastfeeding is for optimal health and nutrition for growing infants. It is natural, safe and life-saving. Everyone who is committed to child health and well-being should promote and support mothers through families to initiate breastfeeding in the first hour of her infant's life. Also to support and encourage mothers to give their infants breastmilk only during the first six months of life -- otherwise known as exclusive breastfeeding for six months -- and to continue to breastfeed until her child is two years old.
The theme of World Health Day (April 07) of this year was: invest in breastfeeding: build a safer future. It addressed the need to increase global security by strengthening global health. The theme also highlighted that a healthy, strong child is one of the most important building blocks for a secure future in all communities throughout the world. About 29,000 children below five years of age die worldwide everyday, which means one child dies in every three seconds.
Most of these deaths could have been prevented. Mother's milk is able to prevent these deaths and it builds a strong base in the lives of infants and children so that the diseases can be prevented. Because the breast milk contains all the necessary components of disease prevention and is life saving unlike animal or formula milk and food.
According to the Annual Report (2005) of the Nutrition Surveillance Project (NSP) of Helen Keller International (HKI), Bangladesh and Institute of Public Health Nutrition (IPHN), the three measures of malnutrition are very high in Bangladesh. Those are wasting (too thin) at 11.4 per cent, stunting (low height for age) at 39.3 per cent and underweight (low weight for age) at 46 per cent. These high rates of malnutrition are caused by poor breastfeeding practices and insufficient and inappropriate feeding of infants and young children.
One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG-4) is to reduce child death rates. The infant and child mortality rate is still alarmingly high in Bangladesh. The infant mortality rate in Bangladesh is 41/1000 live births, and under-five mortality rate is 77/1000 live births. In Bangladesh, one hundred thousands children die due to diarrhoea every year. Children under two years of age are most vulnerable to diarrhoea and malnutrition. Currently in Bangladesh only 36 per cent of mothers are practising exclusive breastfeeding and only 23 per cent of mothers and reported to have initiated breastfeeding within the first year of life.
Helen Keller International (HKI), Bangladesh has called on all health and nutrition practitioners to support mothers to breastfeed their infants optimally. And through the Essential Nutrition Actions (ENA) Training Helen Keller International, Bangladesh provides technical skills to health and nutrition practitioners to confidently and correctly share this information and practice these skills.
Breastfeeding and Gender: Breastfeeding is a biological function and the issue of gender is at the heart of mothers' ability to practise optimal breastfeeding. Breastfeeding offers biological and social benefits to women and their infants. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) calls Bangladesh to action to ensure that women have the right to breastfeed their children. Men's involvement and cooperation is needed too raise the awareness, to support and encourage women to breastfeed their children.
Men are able to promote optimal breastfeeding by helping women with chores so as to allow her time to breastfeed their children. Men may also be in a position to challenge misconception and poor advice from family members. All parents want the best for their beloved child. So let us start saving the lives of our children within the first hour of life with the God-given, healthy and life-saving breastmilk and support mothers to continue breastfeeding for up to two years.
...........................................
The writer is Information and Advocacy Officer of Helen Keller International, Bangladesh. He can be reached at e-mail: babul@hkidhaka.org
BREASTMILK is the God-given and unique natural food for infants and young children. Every year World Breastfeeding Week is observed worldwide including Bangladesh, between August 01 and 08. The slogan of this year is 'breastfeeding: Initiation in the first hour can save more than one million new-born babies'. The World Breastfeeding Alliance has stated that this week this year is set aside to promote and raise awareness that breastfeeding is for optimal health and nutrition for growing infants. It is natural, safe and life-saving. Everyone who is committed to child health and well-being should promote and support mothers through families to initiate breastfeeding in the first hour of her infant's life. Also to support and encourage mothers to give their infants breastmilk only during the first six months of life -- otherwise known as exclusive breastfeeding for six months -- and to continue to breastfeed until her child is two years old.
The theme of World Health Day (April 07) of this year was: invest in breastfeeding: build a safer future. It addressed the need to increase global security by strengthening global health. The theme also highlighted that a healthy, strong child is one of the most important building blocks for a secure future in all communities throughout the world. About 29,000 children below five years of age die worldwide everyday, which means one child dies in every three seconds.
Most of these deaths could have been prevented. Mother's milk is able to prevent these deaths and it builds a strong base in the lives of infants and children so that the diseases can be prevented. Because the breast milk contains all the necessary components of disease prevention and is life saving unlike animal or formula milk and food.
According to the Annual Report (2005) of the Nutrition Surveillance Project (NSP) of Helen Keller International (HKI), Bangladesh and Institute of Public Health Nutrition (IPHN), the three measures of malnutrition are very high in Bangladesh. Those are wasting (too thin) at 11.4 per cent, stunting (low height for age) at 39.3 per cent and underweight (low weight for age) at 46 per cent. These high rates of malnutrition are caused by poor breastfeeding practices and insufficient and inappropriate feeding of infants and young children.
One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG-4) is to reduce child death rates. The infant and child mortality rate is still alarmingly high in Bangladesh. The infant mortality rate in Bangladesh is 41/1000 live births, and under-five mortality rate is 77/1000 live births. In Bangladesh, one hundred thousands children die due to diarrhoea every year. Children under two years of age are most vulnerable to diarrhoea and malnutrition. Currently in Bangladesh only 36 per cent of mothers are practising exclusive breastfeeding and only 23 per cent of mothers and reported to have initiated breastfeeding within the first year of life.
Helen Keller International (HKI), Bangladesh has called on all health and nutrition practitioners to support mothers to breastfeed their infants optimally. And through the Essential Nutrition Actions (ENA) Training Helen Keller International, Bangladesh provides technical skills to health and nutrition practitioners to confidently and correctly share this information and practice these skills.
Breastfeeding and Gender: Breastfeeding is a biological function and the issue of gender is at the heart of mothers' ability to practise optimal breastfeeding. Breastfeeding offers biological and social benefits to women and their infants. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) calls Bangladesh to action to ensure that women have the right to breastfeed their children. Men's involvement and cooperation is needed too raise the awareness, to support and encourage women to breastfeed their children.
Men are able to promote optimal breastfeeding by helping women with chores so as to allow her time to breastfeed their children. Men may also be in a position to challenge misconception and poor advice from family members. All parents want the best for their beloved child. So let us start saving the lives of our children within the first hour of life with the God-given, healthy and life-saving breastmilk and support mothers to continue breastfeeding for up to two years.
...........................................
The writer is Information and Advocacy Officer of Helen Keller International, Bangladesh. He can be reached at e-mail: babul@hkidhaka.org