DHAKA, Dec 22, 2025 (BSS) - Raida Khanam is an officer of a private bank. As she spends most of the day in her office, Najma feeds her eight-month-old son powdered milk to 'ensure nutrition'. The milk brand belongs to a reputed company that wrote on the packet 'the milk can be given from birth!' The plastic feeder that is used to feed milk has a write-up on it 'For Angel' (for godchild)! Misled by such flashy advertisements and misinformation, many parents like Raida are feeding alternative baby food to their beloved children. 
 
The number of children consuming powdered milk is increasing as most of these children is suffering from malnutrition and their immune system is also decreasing. But taking advantage of the ignorance of the parents, the concerned people are showing 'thumbs down' to the law regarding this.
 
The law prohibits the enticing advertisement or promotion of formula or packaged infant formula, other foods and equipment as substitutes for breast milk. 
 
The Act of 2013 clearly mentions that packets and formula products must be labeled "There is no food equal to or superior to mother's milk for infants". It must also be written "This (package/packet) food is not completely germ-free." 
 
There is a risk of the baby getting sick if it is consumed. There are also guidelines on the marketing and purchase of alternative baby food. 
 
However, it has been seen on the ground in various general stores and supershops of the capital that the companies and sellers of alternative baby food and equipment are not following these instructions. 
 
None of the buyers and sellers know much about the law in this regard. There is also no public-private initiative to promote the Child Health Welfare Act. Therefore, this law called 'Sale and Marketing of Breast Milk Alternative Baby Food' seems to be limited to a lot of paper.
 
Concerned said that even after years, there is not much promotion of alternative baby food law. Without knowing that, ordinary shopkeepers are displaying and selling these powdered milk and other food in the shop. 
 
At the same time, it is being sold in various supershops. Parents and guardians of children are also not aware of these foods. 
 
Doctors and nutritionists said that mother's breast milk is the best nutritious food for the baby from birth to two years. Alternative formula is very harmful for babies. This milk reduces the immune system of the newborn. Children often get sick, physical development does not happen properly. 

Two types of alternative baby foods are generally available in the market. Powdered milk made in 'special formula' is given to babies aged six months, one year or two years after the birth of a baby. The other is 'formula food' that is given as a supplementary food along with mother's milk for babies above six months.
 
In this context, National Mental Health Institute and Hospital Professor Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed said that any food with nutritional value will help in mental development. But the alternative baby food has no importance for the child's development up to two years, he added. 
 
For this, he said mother's breast milk is enough. No other food can compete mother's breast milk in the context of nutrients. However, if the mother is ill or the mother take any medicine for which the child cannot be breastfed, measures should be taken according to the doctor's advice, he added.
 
There are initiatives around the world to ensure that babies are breastfed after birth. 
 
In 1981, the World Health Organization in Geneva developed a set of principles to regulate the marketing of breast milk substitutes, known as the 'International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes'. 
 
In the light of that principle, the 'Breast milk Substitute Food (Marketing Policy) Act' was enacted in 1984 in Bangladesh. The Act was amended on 22 October 2013. 
 
The law also asked for regulation of marketing of alternative foods to protect the health of children up to five years of age. In the amended law, the fine has been increased to Taka five lakh and the imprisonment period has been increased to three years for violating the law. 
 
The law also doubles the fine and imprisonment for second time offense. However, from the supershops of the capital Dhaka to different upazilas of the country, various brands of breast milk substitutes and milk are being sold freely.
 
 
Just as the sellers are not following the law, the marketers of these food products are also not following the rules of writing the instructions mentioned in the law on the packet / container properly. 
Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation (BBF) oversees the marketing of alternative infant formula through its own initiative and with the support of the government. 
 
BBF Chairperson Dr SK Roy said that about 30 lakh babies are born every year in the country. "Therefore, the number of two-year-old children stands at around 60 lakh. It is a challenge to ensure that each of these large numbers of children is breastfed for two years. Our parents are unaware of this". 

"Moreover, law promotion and awareness activities depend on manpower and financial allocation. The government is trying to increase the allocation. The BBF and the Public Health Nutrition Institute have prepared a five-year strategy to increase awareness in this regard," he added.