Nigeria: From Zero to Six – Can Breastfeeding Our Babies Accelerate Nigeria’s Development? #wbwng2018:
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Blog By Nigeria Health WatchEvery first week of August Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate World Breastfeeding Week. Yet, if statistics are anything to go by, one might question what impact this 26-year long tradition has had on the rate of breastfeeding in Nigeria. Exclusive breastfeeding rates in Nigeria still remain dismally low, tottering between 17 – 25 percent nationally. During the week starting August 1, 1992, nations around the world commemorated World Breastfeeding Week. The purpose of this weeklong awareness campaign, marked by over 120 countries, was to highlight the huge health benefits that breastfeeding brings to babies, as well as a wider push for a mother’s health, focusing on good nutrition, poverty reduction and food security. At a high-level Policy Dialogue to flag off the World Breastfeeding Week in Nigeria, which held on Thursday, August 2, Dr. David Olayemi, a public health consultant, who moderated the event, challenged those gathered to reflect on whether Nigeria had progressed over the last two decades. “What has changed in the 26 years Nigeria has marked World Breastfeeding Week? What will change because of this meeting?” he asked. These questions are important given the data out of Nigeria- according to the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), only 17% of mothers in Nigeria exclusively breastfed their babies between the ages of zero and six months. When it comes to the Early Initiation of Breast Feeding, Kogi state has the highest rate at 73.6% while Kebbi has the lowest rate at 8.3%. Hopefully, by the time the anticipated 2018 NDHS comes out, these numbers would have gone up. Breastfeeding for a Nation’s Development Why is exclusive breastfeeding so critical for national development? Auwalu Kawu of Alive and Thrive made a compelling argument for the economic benefits of breastfeeding to Nigeria at the policy dialogue. He argued that increasing breastfeeding rates could add 150 million dollars to Nigeria’s economy over a one year period, as a result of increased productivity, as well as save a large chunk of the 11 billion naira households spend on breastmilk substitutes in the first six months of children’s lives. Breastmilk is free as it is produced at no extra cost to the mother, and simply requires that the mother be healthy and nourished herself. Kawu pointed out that over 100,000 child deaths in Nigeria could be prevented if children are exclusively breastfed in the first six months of their lives, and slowly introduced to other complementary foods for the next two years. The available evidence indicates that breastfeeding without any substitutes for six months prevents 72% of hospital admissions for diarrhoea and other common childhood infectious diseases. Feeding infants nothing but breastmilk for the first six months of life helps babies grow, prevents undernutrition, promotes brain development, and reduces the risk that children will become overweight when they get older. Why is
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