It's World Breastfeeding Week, and Action Against Hunger is joining the global health community in celebrating the powerful role breastfeeding plays in promoting the health of infants and children in their first two years of life—and empowering whole communities and countries. Indeed, breastfeeding is an important component of our nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF), and behavior change programs around the world.

Undernutrition contributes to the deaths of more than three million children under age five each year. But according to a two-part report published earlier this year by leading medical journal The Lancet, breastfeeding could prevent an estimated 823,000 child deaths every year. This research, which is the most comprehensive analysis of breastfeeding studies ever done, found that children who are breastfed longer have higher IQs, lower death rates, and less risk of infection than children who are breastfed for shorter periods, or not at all.

A lifesaving practice, often neglected

For optimal health outcomes, the World Health Organization recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed until the age of six months—followed by partial practice until children turn two. But in low- and middle-income countries, only 37 percent of children younger than six months of age are exclusively breastfed.

According to The Lancet, in low-income countries, the risk of death for infants who are exclusively breastfed is eight times lower. Overwhelming evidence also shows that breastfeeding protects against the two leading causes of death among children under five: diarrhea and respiratory infections such as pneumonia.

Positive outcomes for child, community, and country

The theme of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week ties into the strong correlation between breastfeeding and the sustainable development agenda. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of seventeen goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all, were adopted by the United Nations in September 2015. Together, they comprise a framework of sustainable development to guide governments, humanitarian actors, and civil society actors through the year 2030.

The promotion of breastfeeding has clear connections with a number of the SDGs, around broad themes of nutrition and food security; health, well-being, and survival; environment and climate change; work productivity, empowerment, and social protection; and sustainable partnerships and rule of law.

Action Against Hunger’s Technical Director, Silke Pietzsch, says:

"Breastfeeding can make a major positive change in a baby's health — we see that every day in our nutrition and infant and young child feeding programs around the world. But it can do even more than that. Breastfeeding is an enormously powerful force for sustainable development. It's a key driver in reducing mortality in children under age five. It improves long-term health, protects children from disease, and boosts their immune systems. It also helps reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancers in mothers. Promoting breastfeeding is at the heart of our nutrition programs and our strategic efforts to prevent undernutrition in the 1,000 days between pregnancy and a child’s second birthday."

The 1,000 day window of opportunity

Promoting breastfeeding and healthy infant and young child feeding practices are at the heart of Action Against Hunger's approach to preventing and treating undernutrition. We prioritize educating mothers about the importance of breastfeeding in communities that suffer from high prevalence of undernutrition. For example:

• In northeast Nigeria, our “porridge mums” complementary feeding program also supports nursing mothers’ diets while they are breastfeeding. The program’s “mother-to-mother” support group helps educate mothers about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for infants and gives them a forum to share learning and experiences. Last year, we reached 54,000 mothers and infants through more than 1,500 health and nutrition education sessions in Nigeria.
• In Lebanon, we are working with Syrian refugees to offer psychosocial support and "safe spaces" where mothers and babies can bond. The stress mothers suffer in emergencies—especially when they are displaced from their homes and dependent upon aid for basic survival needs—can interfere with their ability to breastfeed. In these safe spaces, we provide counseling to help them cope with trauma, and offer nutrition education to disavow potentially harmful feeding practices, such as giving infants tea, water, and sugar.
• In Kenya, we manage mother-to-mother and father-to-father support groups that teach caregivers about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding as well as the benefits of healthy complementary feeding practices for babies over six months old and toddlers. In 2015, we helped nearly 6,000 mothers and infants through more than 4,200 health and nutrition education sessions in Kenya.

We are proud to support our global health partners in advocating to firmly anchor breastfeeding as a key component of sustainable development in all our work, and to promote and support breastfeeding throughout our humanitarian and development programs to give infants and young children the best possible start toward a healthy, productive life.