Among the few interventions with survival benefits spanning the full childhood continuum is breastfeeding. UNICEF and WHO are major crusaders recommending early initiation of the practice and its exclusivity for the first six months in this case. According to Sankar et al., (2015) breastfeeding prevents the death of children under the age children of 5 by up to 13%, with Lancet Neonatal Survival Series and Nutrition series used the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) reviews subsequently reaffirming the essentiality of breastfeeding in slashing the infant and child mortality.
Breastfeeding could save over 800,000 child deaths annually, but some governments have failed to promote the practice, therefore making the breastfeeding rates to fall below the internationally set targets (Hodal, 2016). The failure can be blamed on the poor community and government policies in addition to the overly aggressive formula milk industry. However, According to CDC Breastfeeding Report Card, 83.2% of 2015 the US babies were breastfed, with 46.9% exclusively breastfed for 90 days and 35.9% breastfeeding until 12 months (“CDC Releases 2018 Breastfeeding Report Card | CDC Online Newsroom | CDC”, 2018).
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There is a substantial difference in health outcomes for the babies who breastfeed and those who do not. Higher incidences of infectious morbidity, gastroenteritis, otitis media, and pneumonia are associated with the lack of breastfeeding. Elevated risks of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) type 1 and type 2 diabetes, childhood obesity, and leukemia are also high in non-breastfed infants. These differences in the health outcomes can be linked to the innate immune factors found in the mother’s milk after the plasma cells present in the intestine and the brachial tree move to the epithelium of the mammary glands producing IgA antibodies that protect the pathogen in the environment of the mother.
References
CDC Releases 2018 Breastfeeding Report Card | CDC Online Newsroom | CDC. (2018). Retrieved 6 December 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p0820-breastfeeding-report-card.html
Hodal, K. (2016). Breastfeeding could prevent 800,000 child deaths, Lancet says. Retrieved 6 December 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/28/breastfeeding-could-prevent-800000-child-deaths-lancet-says
Sankar, M., Sinha, B., Chowdhury, R., Bhandari, N., Taneja, S., Martines, J., & Bahl, R. (2015). Optimal breastfeeding practices and infant and child mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acta Paediatrica , 104 , 3-13. doi: 10.1111/apa.13147
