Breastfeeding in the Information Age This year's WBW theme, “Breastfeeding in the Information Age”, stresses the importance of transforming and conveying the facts of breastfeeding via all the available forms of communication such as the Internet, radio, TV, video, newspapers, cartoons, story-telling, puppets, music, drama, role-pay, flip charts, billboards and folk media. Each year, since 1992 the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) and World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) observe World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) between 1st and 7th August. BPNI is commemorating its 10th anniversary this year and for a network like ours, there is nothing more vital than the communication, and this is what we plan to take on, in the year 2001, and to continue it to the year 2002. Need for the information on breastfeeding In India, about 25 million babies are born each year. Ideally all should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months but there are about 13 million `dropouts' by three months of age and about 20 million `dropouts' by the age of six months. One of the major reasons for this is the lack of accurate information with the people. So this year's theme is the most appropriate to reach people with accurate and unbiased information on breastfeeding and complementary feeding. The
new age
In this age of information, any thing occurring in one part of the world is instantly brought to the knowledge of the whole world. Newspapers, magazines, radio and TV broadcasts and now, the world wide web of INTERNET make this possible. It is indeed ironical that something so natural and beneficial as breastfeeding is being undermined by the illegal and unscrupulous promotion of the bottle-feeding culture by manufacturers of infant formula, infant food products and feeding bottles for the sake of their private profits. In the new millennium, to ensure healthy future for our young ones and to fulfill their rights to survival, development, protection and participation, we emphasise effective, accurate and unbiased communication on exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding. The
‘culture’ of breastfeeding
How
it was threatened
In most of our rural areas, the practice of breastfeeding is passed on through oral communication and by visual and family models observed in communities. Listening to the radio and the conversations in the family have been the main sources of the daily information of the people in those areas. Education and habits were used to be acquired through life experiences, observations and community activities. Then, came the age of Industrialization along with the promotion and marketing of the breastmilk substitutes.
There was large-scale promotion and marketing of infant formula and foods through advertising in magazines, newspapers and television. The distribution of free samples in hospitals and the planned promotional activities of the manufactures of breastmilk substitutes and infant food, aimed to convince certain segments of the medical profession to back this controversial practice. This resulted in disinformation, confusion, lack of confidence in breastmilk among both health professionals and mothers which brought doubts in the mind of mothers like:
To change the mindset and reach people with accurate information, let us resolve to change history and make one more history. Each one of us will use various available means of communications such as e-mail, internet etc. to reach all, especially the young, adolescents, and the newly-weds.
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