World Breastfeeding Week (01/08)

World Breastfeeding Week is held from August 1 to 7 at the initiative of the World Health Organization. The reason for its establishment was the adoption in 1990 of the WHO and UNICEF Innocheti Declaration, aimed at protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding.

Today, World Breastfeeding Week is held in more than 170 countries around the world. Its goal is — to inform women about the health benefits of breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding — is the best way to provide newborn babies with the nutrients they need, according to the World Breastfeeding Alliance, the coordinator of this event.

WHO, in turn, recommends exclusive breastfeeding of children until they reach six months of age, and after —, continue it along with proper complementary feeding. In addition, WHO experts note that feeding children should begin within the first hour after childbirth.

WHO and UNICEF jointly developed the Global Strategy for Infant Feeding. This programme should ensure improved infant nutrition, growth and development, and health promotion. All this should help increase the percentage of survival of infants and young children. The strategy is based on evidence to support the significance of nutrition in the first months and years of a child's life. It emphasizes the importance of providing every mother with the support she needs to fulfill her important role.

This week, events are held around the world on topics to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.

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