Aishwarya Iyer
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Written By: Aishwarya Iyer | Updated : August 7, 2018 1:22 PM IST
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the majority of countries have an exclusive breastfeeding rate below 50 per cent in the first six months which is the 2025 target of the World Health Assembly. The gravity of the situation could be estimated by the fact that now we celebrate breastfeeding week from 1st August to 7th August every year to increase awareness.
The evidence-based research has highlighted the importance of breastfeeding time and again. "The nutrition supply in the first thousand days of life, starting from conception to 2nd birthday, lays the foundation of the long-term health. Breastfeeding is an essential part of this initial nutrition as breast milk is a multi-facet combination of nutrients and bioactive markers that are essential for a newborn in the initial 6 months of life. Nutritional deficiencies early in life can result in long-lasting effects that can pass on to generations," said Dr Manjari Chandra, Senior Nutrition Advisor at IVH Senior Care.
Why exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months?
Breast milk is a combination of macro-nutrients, micro-nutrients, bio-active components, growth factors, and immunological factors.
According to a study named 'Exclusive breastfeeding reduces acute respiratory infection and diarrhoea deaths among infants in Dhaka slums', published in the journal 'Pediatrics' the number of children who are fed breast milk exclusively for the first 6 months could be saved from diarrhoea deaths. However, sadly only 35 per cent of children are exclusively breastfed till the time they turn 6 months old.
"The proportion of infants who were breastfed exclusively was only 6% at enrollment, increasing to 53% at 1 month and then gradually declining to 5% at 6 months of age," observed the study.
Children who are not breastfed exclusively are believed to be prone to infections and have a low IQ. According to WHO data, more than 20 million infants are born weighing less than 2.5 kg per year, sadly over 96% of them in developing countries. These infants are at increased risk of early growth retardation, infectious disease, developmental delay and death during infancy and childhood.
There is enough evidence that highlight the importance of breastfeeding in the first 24 hours of life in these infants. The infants who are breastfed in the first 24 hours show a lower neonatal mortality than the infants who are breastfed after 24 hours.
Dr Arun Gupta, a senior paediatrician and coordinator of Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) said, "Breastfeeding is essential to child health, survival and development, yet in India 3 out 5 women are not able to initiate breastfeeding within an hour of birth. Only 1 out of 2 women can practice exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. This happens because women continue to face multiple barriers to breastfeeding at home, workplace and hospitals. Success lies in removing the barriers which can be done by governments and private healthcare providers."
Encouraging breastfeeding is the need of the hour to ensure a healthy future for the next generations. World Breastfeeding Week is a remarkable initiative; however, just one week will not solve the problem for India who ranks lowest among Southeast nations in breastfeeding practices with only 44% infants having access to breastfeeding in the initial hour of life.
Reference:
1: Arifeen S, Black RE, Antelman G, Baqui A, Caulfield L, Becker S. Exclusive
breastfeeding reduces acute respiratory infection and diarrhea deaths among
infants in Dhaka slums. Pediatrics. 2001 Oct;108(4):E67. PubMed PMID: 11581475.
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