Is breastfeeding really the best?!?

Well, according to many, "yes", breastfeeding to the most nutritious and health way to feed your infant. On UNICF website under nutrition there is an entire page dedicated to informing people about the undeniable benifts of breastfeeding. They explain, "Optimal breastfeeding of infants under two years of age has the greatest potential impact on child survival of all preventive interventions, with the potential to prevent over 800,000 deaths (13 per cent of all deaths) in children under five in the developing world (Lancet 2013)." 

I'm curious to know why breast milk has so may beneficial qualities and what research has to say about breast-fed children compared to children who have not been fed breast milk? 

What I discovered about breastfeeding:

•Supplies balance nutrition and adjust to age of baby

•Decress infant death, illness, childhood asthma, and allergies.

•Higher IQ and more likely to attend college

•Less likely to be come obese or suffer from illness due to obesity.

•Simulates mother-child bonding

•Reduces the risk of breast cancer for the breast feeding woman. 

You can check out the UNICEF website for more amazing facts about the benefits of breastfeeding! http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_24824.html  

While researching I found this interesting document on a blue print for breast-feeding in Europe. In the document called, "Protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding in Europe: a blue print for action", it addresses a plan for the country to institute to help promote breastfeeding in their country. Their goal was to develop strategies to encourage mother to breastfeed their infant until at least six months which they believed would give the optimal health benefits. Some of the strategies they implemented to encourage breastfeeding was developing polices and procedures for encouraging breastfeeding, provide information, educate and communicate to families and health care provide about the overwhelming advantages of breastfeeding, provide trainings to health care professionals so that they can properly support families in the breastfeeding process, provide protection for mother's who breastfeed by promoting support of public breastfeeding, and careful monitoring to ensure and chart success.    

If you would like to view the document in it's entirety just click here! http://iblce.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/eu-blueprint-english.pdf

I learn that breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed your infant and that feeding you child up to the age on one can have everlasting health benefits for the child and mother. Children who are breastfeed tend to have more successful lives; having a higher college graduation rate, marriage rate, less deceases and illness, and decreased infant death rate. So I guess "breast is the best"!

Resources

Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

UNICEF, http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_24824.html

Reference this document as: EU Project on Promotion of Breastfeeding in Europe. Protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding in Europe: a blueprint for action. European Commission, Directorate Public Health and Risk Assessment, Luxembourg, 2004. It can be downloaded from: http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_projects/2002/promotion/promotion_2002_18_en.htm