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BREASTFEEDING AND INFANT FEEDING
Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival. However, nearly 2 out of 3 infants are not exclusively breastfed for the recommended 6 months—a rate that has not improved in 2 decades. WHO and UNICEF recommend that children initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life – meaning no other foods or liquids are provided, including water. Infants should be breastfed on demand – that is as often as the child wants, day and night. No bottles, teats or pacifiers should be used. From the age of 6 months, children should begin eating safe and adequate complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed for up to 2 years and beyond. Breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, are less likely to be overweight or obese and less prone to diabetes later in life. Women who breastfeed also have a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes continues to undermine efforts to improve breastfeeding rates and duration worldwide. Training professionals is among the effective strategies to improve breastfeeding rates and responsive parenting during the first 1000 days of life. (Source: WHO)
Breastfeeding – WHO https://www.who.int/health-topics/breastfeeding#tab=tab_1
Baby Friendly Initiative https://apps.who.int/nutrition/topics/bfhi/en/index.html
International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes https://www.ibfan.org/international-code/
World Breastfeeding Trends (WBTi) https://www.worldbreastfeedingtrends.org/
Infant Feeding in Emergencies (IFE) https://www.ennonline.net/ife
Italian National Institute of Health – Breastfeeding/Infant Feeding Topic
Breastfeeding topic https://www.epicentro.iss.it/allattamento/
Breastfeeding and Infant Feeding in emergency (IFE): the multilingual infographic ISS-UNICEF https://www.iss.it/en/news/-/asset_publisher/gJ3hFqMQsykM/content/id/6937856