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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
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- From: "Human Rights Coordinator" <hrcoord%IGC.ORG@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
- Subject: Latin Americans Breastfeeding No Longer
- Message-ID: <1992Aug13.220335.19583@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
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- Resent-From: "Rich Winkel" <MATHRICH@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
- Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 22:03:35 GMT
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- /* Written 12:04 am Aug 11, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
- Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
- print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.
-
- Title: LATIN AMERICA: BREASTFEEDING NO LONGER A COMMON PRACTICE
-
-
- an inter press service feature
-
- by ivannia mora
-
- san jose, aug 8 (ips) -- as more and more mothers opt to work to
- increase the family income in poverty-stricken latin america, fewer
- infants have the chance to enjoy vhezsdeednzd, which is one of the
- most enriching experiences a baby can have.
-
- the widespread belief among women that breastfeeding causes
- irreparable damages in their personal aesthetics and the growing
- media campaign promoting the use of formula milk are only two of the
- main reasons which make thousands of mothers abandon the practice.
-
- working mothers, who spend long hours away from home to earn a
- living, are often too tired to breastfeed their babies.
-
- the u.n. children's fund (unicef) says about 25 percent of
- three-month old infants and over 40 percent of six-month old babies
- in latin america are not breastfed.
-
- unicef has launched a worldwide campaign for mother's milk. last
- week, costa rica and venezuela promoted a week-long information
- drive on the advantages of breastfeeding. the campaign also
- encourages health institutions to promote breastfeeding.
-
- in bolivia, the percentage of mothers who breastfed their
- children until the age of six months dropped from 91 percent in
- 1975-83 to 84 percent in 1980-90, according to unicef's world
- infancy report for 1992.
-
- in paraguay, this percentage went down from 77 to 69 percent for
- the same period, while it slipped from 63 to 56 percent in colombia.
-
- nutritionist ana morice, coordinator of costa rica's commission
- on maternal lactation, said the changes in society do not encourage
- breastfeeding among groups which traditionally engaged in it.
-
- ''the poor women, who used to practice breastfeeding, have
- stopped doing it to join the region's work force,'' morice said.
-
- in 1980, there were some 30 million working mothers. by 1990, the
- number had risen to 40 million. it is estimated that for the year
- 2000 there will be 53 million working mothers in latin america,
- according to the inter-american development bank (idb).
-
- unicef says the decrease in the practice of breastfeeding can
- also be traced to the people's emigration from rural areas to the
- cities, the lack of support from hospital staff and media publicity
- presenting substitute milk as better and more modern. (more/ips)
-
-
-
- latin america:
-
- ''but once children stop receiving mother's milk during the
- formative months of their life, they also start having hygiene
- problems,'' morice said.
-
- in latin america, many babies are exposed to infections and
- diseases since water which is used to dilute formula milk is often
- contaminated. several areas in the region still do not have access
- to regularly clean and potable water.
-
- maternal milk is the most hygienic, nutritious and cheap food in
- the world, and can be the child's only source of food until he
- reaches the age of six months. nursing mothers have also been found
- to be immunised against the most common infections, unicef says.
-
- but despite its advantages, the breastfeeding campaign has been
- successful only in the most educated and higher income groups which
- used to scorn natural methods.
-
- in bolivia, mexico and brazil, the governments have decided to
- support the unicef campaign, which includes joint accommodations for
- mother and child and the training of hospital staff on the
- importance of breastfeeding.
-
- morice says it is not enough to encourage breastfeeding in
- hospitals. it is also important to understand why poor women have
- stopped doing it to find ways of giving better support to working
- mothers.
-
- ''in some countries, a mother is allowed to go on a four-month
- maternity leave while in others they are given only 15 days. this
- often applies to mothers working in the informal sector, who do not
- have the time to breastfeed their children,'' she said.
-
- unicef says venezuela is the latin american country with the
- lowest number or nursing mothers, since only half of the children
- are breastfed until three months and 40 percent until six months.
-
- uruguay and argentina follow with only one-third of the children
- receiving mother's milk at six months old, unicef said.
- (end/ips/trd/im/oh/cir/92)
-
-