I am sure that most of us have seen the ads on TV that show malnutritioned children living in squalid conditions, a sad look on their face, begging for someone to support them monetarily so they can make something of themselves. Well, before we even get to see them as young children, they have to make it through infancy and early childhood. Often times, the feat of surviving through the first few years of life for these children is extremely difficult. There is very little food to go around, conditions are usually hot and unbearable, and good nutrition is hard to come by. Yet, according to a number of different world wide agencies, the W.H.O. and the Helen Keller Foundation among them, there is plenty of nutrition to go around for these infants should their mothers give it to them. This nutrition comes in the form of breast milk, the best nutrition a baby can receive for the first six months of its life. If you were to compare two babies, one who is given nothing but breast milk for the first six months of its life and another who receives no breast milk at all, the baby who is not breast fed will be 14.4 times as likely to die as the other who was fed breast milk. It has been found that even if the mother who is breast feeding is suffering from malnutrition, she will often times produce enough breast milk for the baby to survive.
Part of the whole problem stems from mothers believing that especially on a hot day, in desert like conditions, a baby needs water as well as milk. Well, unfortunately, the water that is often times accessible in these countries is polluted or contaminated in some way and is unhealthy for the baby. The baby will have a better chance of surviving if it receives just breast milk, even in hot conditions. All that is needed it seems is a little more education for these women to show them the benefits of breast feeding and how it can help their babies survive the first six months of life and also have a better chance at surviving later on. In many countries in Africa, the amount of babies that are exclusively breast fed averages at just around 10%. This is very low considering that mothers are provided with the best nutrition for the babies for free. For comparison, you can look at the United States where the average number of babies that are exclusively breast fed is at around 13%. The big difference in the United States, however, is that we have access to formula to make up the difference and better health care to provide us with the answers. It seems that we have gone awry somewhere in history where we have driven women away from breast feeding. Is there a possible correlation between the amount of babies exclusively breast fed in the United States versus poorer countries, Africa for example? Possibly, but nothing has been scientifically proven. There needs to be an effort to re-educate women, world-wide on the benefits of breast milk and what it can do for a baby.
Formula is not the answer, especially in Africa. Why spend millions of dollars in attempting to provide what is essentially a synthetic breast milk to poor women in another country when all they need is to turn to their own bodies? Formula is generic. Not one formula is tailored to the specific needs of a baby. The only person who can provide the proper nutrition is the mother and her breast milk. In regards to formula and breast feeding, if formula is too expensive for mothers in Africa (or simply unavailable), why wouldn't struggling mothers in the United States turn to the cheaper alternative, breast feeding. It would seem to me that, especially in this recession with everyone trying to save money, more women would be turning to breast feeding as a natural, cheaper alternative. Instead of buying cookie cutter formula in the store packed full of hormones and often times more nutrition than a baby can handle, just breast feed. But enough about the U.S., there is a solution for childhood malnutrition worldwide. All we need to do is look to the past and see what women did before. Even for that matter look to any animal in general. Almost all mammals breast feed their young, why should we as humans be any exception? As I mentioned before, all that is needed to help cure childhood malnutrition is better education in poor countries or those that are developing a don't have access to the type of information that we have. In any case, consider the options, natural and best for the baby, or synthetic and just ok for the baby. I personally would push for the natural choice, not just because I believe in living as naturally as possible, but because it is proven to be the best source of nutrition for a baby.
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