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Breast-feeding in Europe – rationale and prevalence, challenges and possibilities for promotion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2001

Agneta Yngve ,
Elisabeth Kylberg  and
Michael Sjöström
Agneta Yngve*
Affiliation:
Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Department of Biosciences, Karolinska Institutet, SE-141 57 Huddinge, Sweden
Elisabeth Kylberg
Affiliation:
Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Department of Biosciences, Karolinska Institutet, SE-141 57 Huddinge, Sweden
Michael Sjöström
Affiliation:
Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Department of Biosciences, Karolinska Institutet, SE-141 57 Huddinge, Sweden
*
*Corresponding author: Email agneta.yngve@prevnut.ki.se
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Abstract

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The status reports and other information collected showed that interpretation of the data on breast-feeding prevalence and duration collected at national or regional level within European countries is difficult, since this information is not collected in every country or it is gathered under different criteria. However, there seem to be vast differences in prevalence of breast-fed children and breast-feeding duration between European countries and possibly within countries. There is a need to establish monitoring systems enabling comparability of data between countries. Assessing determinants for breast-feeding is required as well. There are a number of important consensus documents supporting breast-feeding action. These documents are related to either one or more of the following categories: health benefits of breastfeeding; recommendations regarding breast-feeding duration and exclusiveness; providing guidance on breast-feeding promotion. Current recommendation is exclusive breast-feeding for 6 months.

Keywords

Breast-feedingBreast-feeding promotionMonitoringBreast-feeding prevalenceRecommendations
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 4 , Issue 6a , December 2001 , pp. 1353 - 1355
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2001

References

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