The World Health Organization says breast-feeding is key to saving children's lives. During this year's World Breast-feeding Week, WHO and other health agencies are highlighting 10 steps to successful breast-feeding. The Week, which runs from August 1 to 7, is celebrated in more than 170 countries.
The World Health Organization describes breast milk as the ideal food for newborns and infants. It says breast milk is safe, gives babies the nutrients they need for health development and contains antibodies that help protect infants from common childhood illnesses.
Bernadette Daelmans, a Medical Officer in WHO's Division for Newborn and Child Health and Development, says breast-feeding has many benefits, not only in the short-term, but also in the long-term for children's health.
"In the World Organization and UNICEF we estimate that if children were exclusively breast fed for six months and continued to breast feed for up to two years, with appropriate additional food for six months onwards, we could save 1.5 million children under five years of age out of the 8.8 million that we estimate to die currently every year," said Daelmans.
WHO says malnutrition is responsible for one-third of the nearly nine million deaths among children under age five every year. It says malnutrition can be a direct cause of death or cause fatal disease in young children.
Dr. Daelmans says more than two-thirds of these deaths occur during the first months of life and are often associated with inappropriate feeding practices such as bottle-feeding.
VOA News
