From August 1st to August 7th, Vietnam joined approximately 170 countries worldwide to celebrate the 19th Annual World Breastfeeding Week. Events ranged from expert discussions on breastfeeding benefits to one-on-one counseling sessions on proper breastfeeding methods to a breastfeeding knowledge competition. Some cities even hosted breastfeeding festivals, where there were photo-booths for mothers and their infants, entertainment areas, as well as free health examinations for breastfeeding mothers. Two of the most well-publicized festivals took place in Hanoi and Saigon where approximately 200 mothers openly breastfed to raise awareness in regards to the importance of breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and for at least the first six months of a child’s life up to two years of age.
Participation in the World Breastfeeding Week is part of a larger effort by the Vietnamese government to improve the height, strength, and nutrition of Vietnamese children. According to Thanh Nien News, the targeted average height is 1.67 meters and 1.56 meters for Vietnamese men and women, respectively, by the year 2020. And according to the World Health Organization (WHO), adults who were breastfed as infants were more likely to have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, less risk of becoming overweight or obese, less risk of suffering from type-2 diabetes, and more successful in IQ and academic careers amongst other benefits.
Unfortunately, the trend in Vietnam over the past decade had not been moving towards the more beneficial direction. Exclusive breastfeeding rates in Vietnam dropped from 34% in 1998 to a mere 19% in 2010. The world average rate is about 35%. And according to UNICEF, “bottle-feeding of [Vietnamese] infants is still very common and on the rise and early complementary feeding also remains a big problem with some 55% of young children being given complementary food before six months of age.” This could be due to factors, such as mothers having to return to work shortly after giving birth, an unsupportive environment from society or even their own spouses, and/or aggressive advertising campaigns from formula milk companies.
Hopefully, the attendees of the breastfeeding festivals will continue to raise awareness and spread the word on the importance of breastfeeding beyond the World Breastfeeding Week.
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