PESHAWAR: The paediatricians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and rest of the country have been crying foul over unethical promotional strategies of the formula-milk producers, but their efforts could not convince the government to enforce the much-needed breastfeeding law, apparently due to strong influence of multinational companies.
According to paediatricians, majority of the mothers are being impressed with unethical promotional activities of formula milk producers and they start feeding formula milk to their newborns.
The Pakistan Paediatric Association (PPA) on Wednesday arranged a one-day symposium at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) to mark the World Breastfeeding Week aimed at promoting breastfeeding and protecting children from avoidable ailments. The paediatricians spoke about the importance of breastfeeding among children and stressed the need for creating awareness among parents, particularly mothers.
“Formula milk is one of the major causes of malnutrition and different diseases among children. We have got tired emphasising on mothers to feed their own milk to their children instead of feeding them the formula milk. The government would have to fulfill its responsibility and implement the breastfeeding law to check malpractices in this crucial sector,” said a senior paediatrician and president Pakistan Paediatric Association (PPA), Prof Amin Jan Gandapur.
Addressing the symposium, he said that 48 percent children in Pakistan suffered from malnutrition and among them, 12 percent are severely malnourished and are exposed to diseases like diarrhea, pneumonia and measles.“These diseases are major causes of deaths among the children,” he said.He said the government should establish a breastfeeding room for working mothers at workplaces and take appropriate measures to protect, promote and support infant and young child feeding.
Prof Amin Jan advised mothers to start breastfeeding in the very first hour after birth and
exclusively breastfeed the baby for first six months. “Mothers can provide appropriate and adequate complementary food to their children after six months but they should continue breastfeeding in the second year and beyond,” he advised.
According to him, an average of 96.5 percent mothers breastfeed their children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 26.4 of them start it within one hour of the birth and 72 percent after one day.
In Sindh, he said, the breastfeeding ratio was 96.6 percent, with 19.7 percent mothers starting it within one hour after birth and 73 percent after one day. And in Balochistan province, Prof Amin added, about 92.2 percent children were breastfed, 42 percent of starting within one hour of birth and 79 percent after one day.
He said that an average of 92.8 percent children were breastfed, with 12.7 percent starting in first hour and 45 percent one day after birth.According to Prof Amin, 29 percent mothers started early breastfeeding in Pakistan, against 41 in India, 36 in Bangladesh and 80 in Sri Lanka.
In Pakistan, he said, 37 percent mothers exclusively breastfed their children against 46 percent in India, 64 percent in Bangladesh and 76 percent in Sri Lanka.He said that breastfeeding protected children from diarrhea and pneumonia. “It contains hundreds of health-enhancing molecules, enzymes, proteins and hormones,” he said.
Additionally, breastfeeding creates a special bond between mother and baby and offers unique interaction and stimulation by helping the uterus to contract soon after delivery, thus reducing chances of prolonged bleeding,” he said.
Also, he said breastfeeding is working as a natural contraceptive and lessens the mother’s risk of ovarian and breast cancer.He dispelled the impression that some mothers don’t have enough milk to breast feed their children, saying all the mothers had the natural capability to breastfeed their children.