Rohit Shishodia
A Europe-based WHO study has revealed that babies who have been never or infrequently breastfed have an increased risk of becoming obese in future.

The study was conducted in European countries, a region which still struggles with the issue of obesity in children despite several efforts having been made to fight the problem.  

The study 'Association between characteristics at birth, breastfeeding and obesity' conducted in 22 countries, has found that despite making serious efforts for promoting breast feeding in the European region, adoption of exclusive breastfeeding remains low as compared to the globally recommended level.

The study revealed that 46% of children in Ireland, 38% in France and 35% in Malta were never breastfed. The study pointed out that only 4 out of 12 countries had a prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (for 6 months or more) of 25% or higher.

The study found that breastfeeding practices in the region are lacking due to various reasons that include inefficient policies to encourage breastfeeding, lack of preparation of health professionals to support breastfeeding, intensive marketing of breast milk substitutes, and problems in legislation on maternity protection.

Dr Joao Breda, Head, WHO European Office for Prevention and Control, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), said that breastfeeding awareness programs provide a window of opportunity for obesity prevention policy to respond to the problem of childhood obesity in the European region.

Dr Bente Mikkelsen, Director, Division of NCD and Promoting Health through Life-course, said that the longer a child is breasted, the greater his protection from obesity. This knowledge can strengthen efforts in preventing obesity.