BOGOTA (AlertNet) - Getting women to breastfeed their infants exclusively in the first six months is the best way to curb child malnutrition but the message is not getting through, according to a top regional official at the United Nations children's agency (UNICEF).

"In times of crises, we call the three 'F's, - the fuel, food and financial crisis - governments should be encouraging mothers to breastfeed, " said Enrique Paz, UNICEF's health and nutrition advisor for Latin America.

"It's the simplest and best practice to fight malnutrition," Paz told AlertNet by phone from Panama City. "Such a simple intervention can save lives."

Over nine million children under five in Latin America suffer from chronic malnutrition

The problem is particularly prevalent in Central American countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, where malnutrition is a leading public health concern and is as widespread as it is in Africa or South Asia.

Malnutrition, defined as low weight for age, is caused by long-term poverty, and is most common among children from indigenous and rural communities.

Even though the message that breastfeeding can save lives sounds straightforward, Luz explained that it is still not getting through effectively to mothers and health officials across Latin America.

"We're not passing on that message enough," said Luz. "Sixty per cent of mums in Latin America are not breastfeeding their babies."

MILK FORMULA POPULAR

There are cultural barriers to overcome too in persuading mothers to choose breastfeeding over milk formula.

In some Latin America countries, like Colombia, feeding babies with milk formula brings social status and is seen as a sign of being rich.

"We're losing ground," he added, referring to aggressive marketing campaigns carried out by milk formula manufacturers.

Across Latin America, there are vast disparities in breastfeeding rates. In the Dominican Republic, only four per cent of babies are fed exclusively with breast milk, compared to Peru where the figure rises to 63 per cent.

Investing in educating mothers and health officials about the benefits of breastfeeding and teaching new mothers how to breastfeed is crucial and pays off in the long run.

Breast milk boosts an infant's immune defence system and is a natural source of vitamin A, which helps to prevent blindness and reduce infant mortality.

Acute malnutrition, which is measured by low height-to weight ratios, also known as stunting, is a silent and invisible form of hunger and can lead to irreversible physical and cognitive damages.

Aid agencies and local health ministries are investing in community-led education projects about hygiene, food and nutrition, and promoting weight monitoring programmes for babies and pregnant women, in countries such as Bolivia and Peru.

CHRONIC MALNUTRITION RISK

Despite signs of a slow global economic recovery, in most of Latin America inflation is rising, unemployment is high and food prices are still around 60 per cent higher than they were in 2005.

In addition, a sharp fall in remittance flows to Latin America, a vital source of money sent home from relatives working abroad, has made it even harder for poor families to afford basic groceries.

With some families finding they have less money to spend on food, there is a risk that more undernourished children will fall into chronic malnutrition, experts have warned.

"Recently we've seen pockets of acute malnutrition in rural areas in Guatemala, where astonishingly some kids don't have anything to eat, and in excluded populations in urban areas in Buenos Aires and Brasilia," said UNICEF's Paz.

Providing pregnant and breastfeeding women and infants with potentially live saving minerals and vitamins in tiny amounts, also known as micronutrients, is seen as a cheap and effective way to combat malnutrition.

Vitamin A tablets, costing just two cents each, and other food supplements such as iodine, sugar, folic acid, zinc and iron, are becoming increasingly available in rural health clinics in countries like Peru and Bolivia.

In the city streets of Bolivia and Argentina, apple sellers also stock micronutrients, while in Chile fortified flour has helped to significantly reduce malnutrition rates.

Conditional cash transfers, a government scheme that gives poor families monthly cash payments on the condition they send their children to school, attend regular medical checkups and health workshops, is also seen as an effective way to tackle and monitor malnutrition and allow families to spend more on food.

The acclaimed initiative, which first started in Mexico, has been adopted by other countries including Brazil and Colombia. "We urge governments to keep up their social spending particularly at times of crises," said Paz. "If not, we risk going back to poverty levels of the 1980s and lose achievements made in past years in raising nutritional levels."

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