The National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) Kaduna state chapter has urged nursing and lactating mothers to ensure exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding for children below the age of five.
Speaking on the advent of the 2021 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) across the globe on Sunday, Chairman of NCWS in Kaduna state, Barr. Zainab Hassan, advised mothers to adopt complementary feeding for their children at the end of the six-month exclusive breastfeeding, using local food at their disposal.
She commended Kaduna state government for granting six months of maternity leave to nursing mothers and urged mothers to make the best use of the leave to breastfeed their wards to ensure a healthy future generation devoid of malnourished and stunted children
She explained that the Day is celebrated between August 1 and 7 to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world.
“According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), ‘increasing breastfeeding to near-universal levels could save more than 800,000 lives every year, the majority being children under six months. Breastfeeding also decreases the risk of mothers developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease,” the UN body noted.
“Breastfeeding has countless benefits for mothers, children and families. It provides total food security for infants, which is available and affordable. Nutritious food should be provided for infants up to six months of age and continue to when the child gets to two years and beyond
“That way, we are sure of a healthy future generation, devoid of malnutrition, stunting, and other health challenges,” she said.
