LatinaLista — There has been ongoing debate for years about the merits of breastfeeding. Everything from whether or not it’s beneficial for the baby to the ethics of breastfeeding in public, the topic always stirs passionate debate.
Well, it seems that for the city of Laredo, Texas, breastfeeding is the way to go. City officials have declared the month of August as Breastfeeding Awareness Month and are even sponsoring a Breastfeeding Baby Shower for city residents where experts will explain the benefits of breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding supplies the best nutrition for babies and helps them form strong immune systems to fight illness. Breastfed infants have fewer ear infections, incidences of diarrhea, lung infections and infections of the brain and spine. Recent studies confirm that children who were breastfed have higher IQs and a decreased risk of becoming overweight or obese later in life. In addition mothers who breastfeed their babies also receive health benefits including reduced risks of breast and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis.
However, breastfeeding remains a personal choice for women, but some would like to change that.
It’s reported that the United States Breastfeeding Committee has a petition circulating to send to President Obama:
Given all of these benefits, the United States Breastfeeding Committee joins the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in recommending that infants be exclusively breastfed for six months, and continue to breastfeed for the first year of life and as long afterward as mutually desired by the mother and infant. Yet only a handful of states are currently meeting the federal government’s own Healthy People 2010 breastfeeding targets. Additionally, significant disparities in breastfeeding continue to exist, with non-Hispanic black and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups experiencing lower breastfeeding rates.
There’s no argument that breast milk is the best nutrition for infants but breastfeeding also has to be the best choice for the mother too.
