AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
World Breastfeeding Week emphasized exclusive breastfeeding for first 6 months.
2004 SEP 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Exclusively breastfeeding infants for the first 6 months of their lives provides all the energy and nutrients a child needs while reducing the risks of infant diarrheal and respiratory infections, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
World Breastfeeding Week, recognized during the first week of August, sought to create awareness of the importance of breastfeeding, a practice that has been losing ground over the last few decades for a variety of reasons.
The period between birth and 2 years of age is considered a critical window of time for the growth and full development of a child. Over a longer term, nutritional deficiencies are linked to problems and obstacles to intellectual performance, work capacity, reproductive health, and the overall health of adults.
That is why feeding with breast milk during an infant's the first 6 months - and even during the first year - creates a solid nutritional foundation for well-being during adolescence and adulthood.
Even though breastfeeding is considered a natural practice, it is also a learned behavior. According to the PAHO report on Health in the Americas, "although most women in Latin America breastfeed and do so for a relatively long period of time, breastfeeding practices are far from optimal."
The growing number of women in the labor market, together with the lack of labor practices that guarantee maternal leaves and a limited work schedule to give mothers a chance to breastfeed, have made the strengthening of this natural practice much more difficult.
There also are a number of common erroneous beliefs and myths that further negatively affect the duration of exclusive breastfeeding:
- Breast-Milk Banks Push for More Federal Oversight.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News October 24, 2002 700+ words
...24--After this month's discovery that...transmitted through breast milk, the nation's...that provide breast milk to babies whose mothers...call within the last month from an official...sales of donated breast milk are up 25 percent...
- Effect of breast milk lead on infant blood lead levels at 1 month of...
- Magazine article from: Environmental Health Perspectives Ettinger, Adrienne S. Tellez-Rojo, Martha Maria Amarasiriwardena, Chitra Bellinger, David Peterson, Karen Schwartz, Joel Hu, Howard Hernandez-Avila, Mauricio October 1, 2004 700+ words
...Levels of lead at 1 month postpartum were, for breast milk, 0.3-8.0...feeding infants at 1 month of age. Breast milk lead accounted for...relationship between breast milk lead and infant blood lead at 6 months of age ([beta...
- Chemical contaminants in breast milk: time trends and regional variability....
- Magazine article from: Environmental Health Perspectives Solomon, Gina M. Weiss, Pilar M. June 1, 2002 700+ words
...environmentally related chemical contaminants in breast milk spans several decades and dozens of...consistent protocols. Data on xenobiotics in breast milk are influenced by choices in sample...chemical contaminants may also enter breast milk. Despite these limitations, however...
- Chemical contaminants in breast milk and their impacts on children's health: an...
- Magazine article from: Environmental Health Perspectives Landrigan, Philip J. Sonawane, Babasaheb Mattison, Donald McCally, Michael Garg, Anjali June 1, 2002 700+ words
...best source of nutrition for infants. Breast milk contains the optimal balance of fits...and development. Unfortunately, breast milk is not pristine. Contamination of human...The finding of toxic chemicals in breast milk raises important issues for pediatric...
- Levels of lead in breast milk and their relation to maternal blood and bone...
- Magazine article from: Environmental Health Perspectives Ettinger, Adrienne S. Tellez-Rojo, Martha Maria Amarasiriwardena, Chitra Gonzalez-Cossio, Teresa Peterson, Karen E. Aro, Antonio Hu, Howard Hernandez-Avila, Mauricio June 1, 2004 700+ words
...at delivery. Maternal breast milk, blood, and bone lead levels were obtained at 1 month postpartum. Levels of lead in breast milk ranged from 0.21 to...mineral (tibia) at 1 month postpartum. Breast milk lead was significantly...
- Infant Exposure to Chemicals in Breast Milk in the United States: What We Need...
- Magazine article from: Environmental Health Perspectives LaKind, Judy S. Berlin, Cheston M. Naiman, Daniel Q. January 1, 2001 700+ words
...presence of environmental chemicals in breast milk has gained increased attention from...published literature on chemicals in breast milk has grown, there remains a paucity...Although the data indicate a decrease in breast milk dioxin toxic equivalents over time for...
- Cancer patients rely on breast milk to help relieve symptoms.
- Newspaper article from: San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, CA) December 29, 2004 700+ words
...her last name not be used, said breast milk seems to be helping her 15-year...destroy the liver. Daily doses of breast milk mixed with chocolate syrup kept...him in the hospital after five months on breast milk, Patty still gives him 8 ounces...
- Analytic considerations for measuring environmental chemicals in breast milk....
- Magazine article from: Environmental Health Perspectives Needham, Larry L. Wang, Richard Y. June 1, 2002 700+ words
...of environmental chemicals in human breast milk is of general concern because of the...presence of environmental chemicals in breast milk and their ability to be determined analytically...solubility are likely to be found in breast milk; they include polyhalogenated compounds...