Why invest, and what it will take to improve breastfeeding practices?

Conclusion

Breastfeeding improves the survival rates, health and de- velopment of children.¹ In this study of a series published by renowned medical journal "The Lancet", the factors and inter- ventions necessary for improving breastfeeding practices are summarized.

Key findings:

• Mothers who wish to breastfeed are often confronted with an unsupportive environment.
• Breastfeeding rates could be quickly increased in many countries if known measures were implemented.
• Successful breastfeeding is not the responsibility of individual mothers, but rather the promotion of breastfeeding is the responsibility of society as a whole.
• The breast milk substitute industry has a wide reach, and marketing for formula milk is undermining efforts to improve the breastfeeding rate.
• To reap the benefits of breast- feeding for mother and child, political support and financial investment are required.

Background

In high-income countries, the breastfeeding rate has dramatically decreased throughout the 20^th century.² In medium and low-income countries, breastfeeding among well-educated mothers earning higher salaries and living in cities is also steadily on the decline.³ Milk substitute products acquired considerably greater importance and became associated with modern life and prestige, whereas breastfeeding was regarded as lower class and uncultured.⁴

Methods

The study authors conducted a systematic review of the available studies to determine the factors that lead to successful breastfeeding, such as the conceptual framework conditions required. Breastfeeding is influenced by a wide range of factors, including:

• socioeconomic
• cultural
• personal
• market factors (e.g. heavy promotion of bottle feeding).⁵

Key Findings

The estimated costs for comprehensive programmes that increase the breastfeeding rate fluctuate strongly depending on the region and, according to studies, lie between 653 million⁶ and 17.5 billion dollars.⁷ A higher breastfeeding rate not only provides breastfed children with a better start in life, but also leads to positive benefits for society and the economy. For this reason, further research into the cost of programmes to promote breastfeeding is urgently required. Successful breastfeeding requires measures on many levels (legal, political, societal, framework conditions in the workplace, health policy, etc.).

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