Breast milk to save lives. Breastfeeding extended could save more than 820,000 babies worldwide each year. This is what reveals a meta-analysis published in the journal The Lancet.
If the World Health Organization (WHO) advocates exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life (and partial for two years), only 37% of babies benefit from itcurrently. The work based on the collection of data in 164 countries particularly calls into question government policies that do not sufficiently promote breastfeeding. A major global problem, the publication believes.
“Only one in five children is breastfed until their 12 months in rich countries, while only one in three children is breastfed exclusively for the first six months of their life in low and middle income countries,” the study explains.
Researchers suggest that breast milk, with all its benefits, could save money in both rich and poor countries, by reducing the number of sudden infant deaths but also more widely the number of pathologies.
20,000 fewer breast cancer deaths
“In rich countries, breastfeeding reduces sudden infant death syndrome by more than a third. In poor or middle-income countries, about half of diarrhea epidemics and one-third of respiratory infections could be prevented by ‘breastfeeding,’ the researchers continue.
According to this study, children who are breastfed for a long time have a higher IQ, are less at risk of premature death and have a lower risk of infection than babies who are breastfed for a short time. Breastfeeding would also protect against diabetes andobesity adulthood.
The benefits of breastfeeding are also visible for the mother, who would be more protected from the risk of breast cancer, of ovarian cancer and type 2 diabetes, according to the study. For example, breastfeeding would help reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer by 20,000.
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