Ensure best feeding practices, say docs
Leading specialists in obstetrics and paediatrics in the country have urged the government to update the medical and nursing curriculum to ensure best practices in Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF).
Terming adequate child nutrition a basic building block for a healthy generation, the experts stressed the need of incorporating practical sessions on IYCF in the medical and nursing college academic calendar.
Quite often doctors are unaware of the practical details of IYCF, including breastfeeding and complementary feeding techniques, the specialists said at a workshop in the city yesterday.
The workshop was organised by the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society of Bangladesh (OGSB) with cooperation from the Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN), and the Alive and Thrive initiative.
National Professor Dr Shahla Khatun; Prof Fatema Parveen Chowdhury,
director, Institute of Public Health and Nutrition; Prof Khandakar Mohammed Sifayetullah, director of Health Services; Prof Abu Shafi Ahmed Amin, president of Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council; and Prof Sameena Chowdhury of OGSB spoke at the workshop.
Addressing the workshop, Dr Shahla said without wholehearted involvement and cooperation of physicians, it would be impossible to achieve the national nutrition goals.
Dr Sameena said there were gaps in the medical and dental council curriculum, which needed to be addressed.
“A medical student often lacks practical knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding, and is unaware of the harmful effects of formula baby foods,” she said.
According to Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) statistics, less than half of Bangladeshi mothers practice exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. The initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour after birth, strongly recommended by WHO, is less than 25 percent.
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