International Week for Breastfeeding: Focusing on Infant Food Security and Safety
PHOTO: UNICEF The World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 - 7th August to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. Breastfeeding provides both long-term and short-term health, economic and environmental benefits to children, women and the society at large. Studies have shown that children who are breastfed for a longer period have better cognitive development than those who are breastfed for shorter periods; this translates to improved academic performance and productivity. Breastfeeding decreases the risk of mothers developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and averts maternal deaths yearly. These are reasons why public health organizations recommend breastfeeding, starting from one hour after birth to six months until the baby is six (6) months old. Thereafter, nutritious and safe complementary food should be added while continuing to breastfeed for up to 1 year and beyond. Apart from the ...