WBW: Breastfeeding and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

On my first World breastfeeding week post, I mentioned that I would write a bit more about The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
SDGs are a new set of universal global targets that are supposed to influence investment and policy agendas all over the world, making, hopefully, positive influence on millions of lives over the next fifteen years. The SDGs are an extension of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were agreed upon by governments in 2000 and are due to expire at the end of this year.

UN Member States are finishing the SDGs. There are composed of 17 goals applicable to both developed and developing countries. SDGs cover a broad number of issues such as poverty reduction or climate change and many many others.

Breastfeeding is considered to be a simple, smart and cost effective practice that contributes to the realization of SDGs goals.
Here are some examples of how breastfeeding would contribute to the realization of the SDGs goals:

1. Breastfeeding prevents malnutrition and obesity and gives all children a fair start in life, regardless of the country or the socioeconomic status of the family it was born in.

2. According to numerous studies breastfeeding improves the long-term health of children. Worldwide, inadequate breastfeeding prac­tices resulted in almost 12 per cent of all deaths among children under five years of age. Even in the U.S. and Europe, with relatively low infant mortality rates compared to the developing world, breastfeeding protects against certain diseases, such as respiratory infections. From the very beginning of a baby’s life through age two or later, breastfeeding protects against illness and death

3. Breastfeeding protects maternal health, helping to reduce breast and ovarian cancers and post partum depression.

4. Breastfeeding is essential for early childhood development, supporting healthy brain development.

5. Most importantly, in the contexts of SDGs, breastfeeding contributes to environmental sustainability. It provides a natural and renewable food source which involves no packaging, storage, transportation or fuel to prepare and therefore contributes to environmental sustainability.

World Breastfeeding Week 2016. poster

Even tho the importance of breastfeeding is in every bodies mouth and declaratively everybody is all for it, day to day life tells a very different story. Breastfeeding, especially in developing countries, is literally a cornerstone of child survival, nutrition and early childhood development. Yet currently less than 40 per cent of children worldwide are exclusively breastfed for their first six months. This figure has remained relatively unchanged for nearly two decades despite the enormous benefits raising breastfeeding rates would have for families, communities and nations.

More on the subject: http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/2016/pdf/BreastfeedingandSDGsMessaging%20WBW2016%20Shared.pdf