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Cant remember if you registered*Information for Healthcare Professionals only. Breastfeeding is best for babies.
*Information for Healthcare Professionals only. Breastfeeding is best for babies.
Information for Healthcare Professionals only.
Important notice: We believe that breastfeeding is the ideal nutritional start for babies and we fully support the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life followed by the introduction of adequate nutritious complementary foods along with continued breastfeeding up to two years of age. We also recognise that breastfeeding is not always an option for parents. We recommend healthcare professionals to inform parents about the advantages of breastfeeding. If parents consider not to breastfeed, healthcare professionals should inform parents that such a decision can be difficult to reverse and that the introduction of partial bottle-feeding will reduce the supply of breast milk. Parents should consider the social and financial implications of the use of infant formula. As babies grow at different rates, healthcare professionals should advise on the appropriate time for a baby to begin eating complementary foods. Infant formula and complementary foods should always be prepared, used and stored as instructed on the label in order to avoid risks to a baby’s health.
The true burden of nutritional deficiencies in young children
The South African Child Gauge 2020 report describes early childhood malnutrition as “slow violence”. This term is used to illustrate how damaging malnutrition is during this period of development, resulting in long-term effects that are irreversible and impact a family’s economic welfare. 1
Figure 1. Malnutrition in young children leads to delayed development, compromises their immune system and puts them at higher risk of hereditary disease such as diabetes. This undermines their prospects of livelihood, which in turn contributes to the intergenerational transfer of poverty, malnutrition, and ill-health. 1