World Breastfeeding Week
<i>No gift is more precious than breastfeeding</i>
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. Malnutrition is responsible, directly or indirectly for about one third of deaths among children under five. Above two thirds of these deaths, often associated with inappropriate feeding practices, occur during the first year of life. Nutrition and nurturing during the first years of life are both crucial for life-long health and well-being. In infancy, no gift is more precious than breastfeeding; yet barely one in three infants is exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life. The World Health Organisation recommends that infants start breastfeeding within one hour of life, are exclusively breastfed for six months, with timely initiation of adequate, safe and properly fed complementary foods while continuing breastfeeding for up to two years of age or beyond.
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