August is
Breastfeeding Awareness Month. Breastfeeding is not
just a personal choice. It is a public health issue
with lifelong effects. Here are some facts to
consider:
Americans
have a 32% lifetime risk of developing diabetes.
Breastfeeding decreases that risk for both
mother and baby by 39%.
Lucky
13? I think not. Ohio is ranked 13th
fattest state in the nation. Breastfeeding
decreases the risk of becoming an obese child and
adult. Ohio ranked 42nd lowest in
breastfeeding rates in the nation. Are these two
outcomes related?
Ohio’s
infant mortality rate is 7.7% and is double for
African American infants at 14.8%.
Studies show that breastfed infants
have a 20% lower risk of dying between 28 days and
one year than formula fed infants. Breastfeeding
saves lives.
Research
to be published in the October edition of the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has
attributed an overall increase of 5.3 IQ points to
breastfeeding with 3.1 of those points attributable
to “something” in the breast milk. If breastfeeding
increases IQ, then not breastfeeding decreases IQ.
If 90% of
US mothers breastfed exclusively for the first 6
months, 911 infant lives would be saved yearly as
well as $13 billion in health care costs. Now
that’s an improved health care plan!
Protecting the public’s health in Sandusky County means many things. It means working with other providers and responders to ensure that we can mount an effective response to a major biological event like pandemic flu.
