DHAKA, August 13, 2018 (BSS) – Speakers at a discussion today laid emphasis on creating awareness of benefits of breastfeeding so that all mother in each and every part of the country feed breast milk to their children.
Ministry of Health, Institute of Public Health Nutrition (IPHN), World Food Programme and Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation (BBF) jointly organised the discussion at Dhaka Divisional Health Office at Motijheel here.
Additional Divisional Commissioner (Development and ICT) of Dhaka M Selim Reza and BBF Programme Manager Dr Sazzad Rahat Hossain, among others, spoke on the occasion.
They said sufficient breastfeeding is important for both physical and mental development of infants and this is the best way to provide them with proper nutrients.
They also viewed that malnutrition is responsible, directly or indirectly, for about one thirds of deaths among children under five years old. Above two thirds of these deaths occur because of inappropriate feeding practices during the first year of their birth.
So, there should be adequate awareness to encourage every lactating mother to breastfeed their babies instead of depending on any other supplementary feed till their age of six months, they opined.
They urged people not to pay any attention to ornamental languages of advertisement of baby food as there is no alternative to breastfeeding for the normal growth of children as it contains essential nutrition for the infants which increases resistance power, they added.