Did you know generalizing breastfeeding "could save more than 800,000 lives" a year?

A new international study, which aggregates data from 164 countries, concluded that the spread of breastfeeding is good for babies, for moms, but also for the economy. Explanations.

Exclusive breastfeeding until age six months is a public health issue. But not only. Prolonged breastfeeding could save the lives of more than 800,000 babies each year while saving billions of dollars to health systems globally through its role in protecting against certain childhood diseases, according to a series of studies published this Friday.

"Only one in five children are breastfed up to twelve months in rich countries while only one in three children is exclusively breastfed in the first six months of its existence in countries with low and middle income," says the British medical journal The Lancet.

They are thus millions of children who do not benefit fully from the benefits of breast milk, the researchers note.

More than 800,000 lives saved

Breast milk covers all the nutritional needs of the baby during the first six months of life. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breastfeeding as "exclusive" to the age of six months and partial breastfeeding up to two years. According to her, less than 40% of infants worldwide benefit today.

Besides purely based food, breastfeeding is known for a long time to have beneficial effects both on the health of the infant and the mother.

Breastfeeding long term "could save more than 800,000 children's lives each year worldwide, equivalent to 13% of all deaths in children under two years," say the authors based on a series of studies. It could also prevent the deaths each year of 20,000 consecutive mothers to breast cancer, they add.

Reduced risk of cancer

And, unlike a "false idea and widespread", the benefits of breastfeeding are not confined to poor countries. "Our research clearly shows that breastfeeding saves lives and helps to save money in all countries, both rich and poor," they write. Hence the need, according to them, to address the problem globally.

"In rich countries, breastfeeding reduced by more than a third of sudden infant death. In poor or middle-income countries, about half of diarrhea epidemics and third respiratory infections could be prevented thanks to breastfeeding ", say the researchers.

The long-term breastfeeding also help reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes in children. For mothers, it would reduce the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Considerable cost savings for the health

The researchers also calculated that bringing to 90% the rate of exclusive breastfeeding up to six months in the United States, China and Brazil and 45% in the UK, this would reduce the costs of treatment of common childhood diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea or asthma.

With breastfeeding "savings for the health care system at least $ 2.45 billion in the US, 29.5 million in the UK, from 223.6 million in China and 6 million Brazil "would be feasible. In rich countries, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark breastfeeding rates to twelve months the lowest in the world (respectively less than 1%, 2%, 3%).

A loss of $ 302 billion

Based on a previous study, published in March 2015, which held that breastfeeding contributes to increased intelligence, longer schooling and thus better income as adults, they feel that the weakness of breastfeeding was a loss of $ 302 billion (0.49% of global GDP) in 2012.

The scientists also complain of aggressive advertising in favor of infant formula that undermine, according to them, the authorities' efforts to promote breastfeeding. "The saturation of rich country markets has led manufacturers to rapidly enter emerging markets", they add.

"Global milk sales (substitution) increased in value from two billion in 1987 to 40000000000 approximately in 2014," they note.

According to them, the countries are yet able to significantly improve the practice of breastfeeding. For example, in Brazil, the duration of breastfeeding increased from 2.5 months in the years 1974 to 1975 to 14 months in 2006-2007 through proactive policy of health services and broad information campaigns .