2024-08-02 14:06:29
(ANSA) – ROME, 01 AUG – In the world only 48% of newborns are fed with exclusive breastfeeding for at least the first six months of life. This is the data highlighted by UNICEF and WHO on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week that opens today.
“Over the past 12 years, the number of girls and boys under six months who are exclusively breastfed has increased by more than 10 per cent. This means that 48 per cent of newborns worldwide are benefiting from this healthy start in life,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a joint statement. “This translates into hundreds of thousands of girls and boys whose lives have been saved through breastfeeding.”
Exclusive breastfeeding in the early years of life, the two agencies recall, is one of the most important determinants for the health of children in the early stages of life. The antibodies it contains protect against many infectious diseases while waiting for the child to develop his own immune system. In addition, breastfed children have a lower risk of various pathologies, such as obesity, throughout life. Benefits also for the mother who, if she breastfeeds, has a lower probability of developing some tumors and diabetes.
“When mothers are supported to breastfeed, everyone benefits. According to the latest available data, improving breastfeeding rates could save more than 820,000 lives every year,” Russell and Tedros said.
In Italy, according to the latest data (2022) from the Surveillance of Children 0-2 Years of the Ministry of Health and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, only 46.7% of children aged 2-3 months are exclusively breastfed. The percentage drops to 30% in the 4-5 month age group. There are strong differences on a territorial basis with lower rates in the South compared to the Center-North. In particular, in the 4-5 month age group, the percentage goes from 13.5% in Sicily to 43.2% in the Autonomous Province of Trento and Friuli Venezia Giulia. (ANSA).
2024-08-02 14:06:29