World Breastfeeding Week

Tuesday, 02 August 2011 10:53

wbw World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is an annual celebration and awareness campaign highlighting and recognizing the benefits of breastfeeding in communities across the globe. It is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries. Breastfeeding is the normal way of providing young infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development.

Virtually all mothers can breastfeed, provided they have accurate information, and the support of their family, the health care system and society at large. Breastfeeding is directly linked to reducing the death toll of children under five, yet only 36 per cent of infants below the age of six months in developing countries are exclusively breastfed, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding until a baby is six months old, and continued breastfeeding with the addition of nutritious complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.

The United Nations and its partners are promoting the use of all possible means of communication, including social networking, blogs and even flash mobs, to get the message out on the benefits of breastfeeding beyond clinics and delivery rooms to the wider public.

“With so much at stake, we need to do more to reach women with a simple, powerful message: Breastfeeding can save your baby’s life,” UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week, which is celebrated from 1 to 7 August.

UN’s message to mothers: breastfeeding can save your baby’s life
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39203&Cr=child&Cr1=health

LINKS:

WHO – Breastfeeding
http://www.who.int/topics/breastfeeding/en/index.html

World Breastfeeding Week website
http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org

10 facts on breastfeeding
http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/breastfeeding/en/index.html

Promoting proper feeding for infants and young children
http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/infantfeeding/en/index.html

The World Health Organization's infant feeding recommendation
http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/infantfeeding_recommendation/en/index.html

World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA)
http://www.waba.org.my/

When the Security Council approaches the final stage of negotiation of a draft resolution the text is printed in blue... What's in Blue helps interested UN readers keep up with what might soon be "in blue".