Breast-feeding awareness week

Citation

(2000), "Breast-feeding awareness week", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 30 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2000.01730fab.005

Breast-feeding awareness week

Breast-feeding awareness week

The key message of this week which was held in May 2000 was informed choice. It was reinforced with an eye catching poster campaign showing photographs of both parents with their babies. This was to encourage mothers and fathers to "Give your baby the best". Young women are more likely to breast-feed if they feel supported by their male partners. Breast-feeding protects babies against conditions such as glue ear, gastroenteritis, allergies such as eczema and respiratory infections. It also has health benefits for the mother, such as potential reduction in pre-menopausal breast cancer. During the week health workers developed imaginative and innovative approaches to promoting breast-feeding as a public health priority. It aimed at identifying best practice in supporting those who are less likely to breast-feed and providing them with unbiased information and friendly advice, should they choose to do so. Groups who are least likely to breast-feed are mothers in their late teens and early 20s, particularly those who cease full-time education at or before the age of 16. A total of 73 per cent of mothers in the most affluent social class who breast-fed from the beginning were continuing to do so at six weeks. This compared with 23 per cent for women in social class V.