Brazil is a reference in breastfeeding, says UK study

The survey examined 153 nations, with Brazilians appear in a prominent position in relation to countries such as China, the United States and the United Kingdom



Brasília - A study published Wednesday in the British journal The Lancet, specializing in healthcare issues, highlights advances in Brazilian stimulus policies to breastfeeding and cites the country as a world reference in breastfeeding. The study analyzed data from 153 nations, with Brazil appears in a prominent position in relation to countries such as China, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The pediatrician and study coordinator, Cesar Victora, explained that, in the 70s, Brazilian children were breastfed for a period of two and a half months on average. In 2006, the number rose to 14 months. The survey also shows that in the 80, only 2% of Brazilian children under 6 months of age received only breast milk. In 2006, the index rose to 39%.

"Brazil was the country that drew the most attention for taking important and complementary measures in the last three decades," he said, citing that China, for example, recorded a 5% reduction in the total number of children up to 6 months They fed exclusively with breast milk.

Also according to the study, Brazilian nursing more than the British, American and Chinese. The exclusive breastfeeding rate up to 6 months of the baby's life in Brazil is twice that recorded in the United States, the United Kingdom and China. "We did not do a ranking, but Brazil, of course, would be among the top five," the researcher stressed.



Other data in the article and which are based on information from the United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF) show that 68% of Brazilian children are breastfed in the first hour of life, 50% continue to be breastfed to complete 1 year of age and 25 % are breastfed for up to two years.

During the event at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Brasilia, the Secretary of Health Care, Alberto Beltrame, recalled that the child's health care involves beginning in intrauterine life. "The national breastfeeding policy is not an effort of a government. It is an effort of all and a policy embraced by Brazil, "he said.

The Minister of Health, Marcelo Castro, assessed the set of actions that encourage breastfeeding as one of the successful policies of the folder. "It's a policy initiated in the 80's and has since then been applied, stimulated and planned with excellent results."

Among the lauded strategies Castro are the Brazilian network of human milk banks, the regulations call Breastfeeding Act, limiting the marketing of breast-milk substitutes, and the extension of maternity leave from four to six months, allowing exclusive breastfeeding for the period recommended by the World Health Organization