The United Kingdom will advise all new mothers to breastfeed their babies exclusively for six months before introducing solid foods.
The recommendation is based on expert international opinion, but will need a big cultural and social shift if it is to be fully implemented.
The move endorses a policy agreed on by the World Health Assembly in May 2001, but the British government has hesitated for a year before making the announcement, aware that it is taking on both cultural taboos and the commercial interests of baby milk and food companies.
These make about R2-billion a year from sales of baby food in the UK. Powdered formula sales are worth about R1,8-billion. But experts now agree that infants need nothing more than the breast for the first six months of their lives.
The big question is if the government will try to follow up its advice to women with curbs on the promotion of formula milk and baby food.
Cultural shibboleths will also need to be overcome, such as the widespread disapproval experienced by women who breastfeed in public and the difficulties they encounter when they go back to work.
The new recommendation from the UK Department of Health is uncompromising: “Breastfeeding is the best form of nutrition for infants. Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first six months (26 weeks) of an infant’s life as it provides all the nutrients a baby needs.”
Launching the guidelines this week, Health Minister Hazel Blears said: “We want to give a clear and consistent message to mothers, health professionals and the general public. Breastfeeding for the first six months provides the best start for babies. It establishes a foundation for improving short-term and long-term health and in so doing can help to reduce health inequalities.”
Studies have shown that breastfed babies might be less likely to become obese children and have a lower risk of gastroenteritis, and respiratory and ear infections.
The UK, however, has further to go than most of Europe. In 2000 69% of women started breastfeeding their babies from birth, but by one month only 44% were continuing. Only 23% of women were breastfeeding their babies by six months.
Scandinavian countries, in particular, do vastly better, with Norway top of the league. According to last year’s figures, one month after birth, 97% of Norwegian mothers were breastfeeding and at six months the figure had dropped only to 80%. — Â