Breastfeeding & Nutrition Theme: “Step Up for Breastfeeding, Educate and Support”

The Central-level ceremony to mark the 2022 World Breastfeeding Week and Nutrition Week took place on Thursday at the Ministry of Health in Nay Pyi Taw.
In the ceremony, Union Minister Dr. Thet Khine Win highlighted aims of holding the ceremony including which include ‘to make the public more aware of nutrition activities’ and ‘to promote cooperation with related departments in nutrition activities’. Children under five years of age, pregnant women and lactating mothers are the most vulnerable group to malnutrition. Nutrition is a basic requirement for national development.
The ministry has been working on its established goals such as eliminating nutritional deficiencies and overnutrition and promoting the habit of eating nutritiously.
In Myanmar, among children under the age of 5, stunting due to long-term malnutrition is 26.7 percent, so there is a need to promote more nutrition activities. According to the Myanmar Demographic and Health Survey (2015-2016), the breastfeeding rate has reached 51 percent.
The Union Minister also stressed that breastfeeding has many benefits and needs to be promoted and supported by officials - not only the governmental departments but also all organizations and the public should need to work together to make nutrition care work a success.
This year, the theme of the World Breastfeeding Week is “Step Up for Breastfeeding, Educate and Support”. World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is an annual celebration which is held every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries. Organized by World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF, WBW came up with the goal to promote exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life which yields many health benefits, providing critical nutrients, protection from deadly diseases such as pneumonia and fostering growth and development for the first time in 1991.