As the country celebrates the 37th nutrition month this July, Governor Lilia G. Pineda today (July 4) encouraged concerned women employees of the provincial capitol to practice breastfeeding and ensure healthy well-fed babies in Pampanga.
This developed during Monday’s flag raising ceremony of provincial capitol employees, department heads, provincial board members and other officials led by the chief provincial lady executive.
The governor said that theme for this year’s annual celebration is “Isulong ang Breastfeeding: Tama, Sapat at Eksklusibo”.
She further enjoined the employees to advocate the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding with their families, friends and other members of their communities as this would help in the provincial government’s efforts of ensuring a healthy young populace.
Provincial Board Member Fritzie David-Dizon also underscored the nutritional gains and benefits of breast milk, widely acknowledged as the most complete form of nutrition for infants and with a range of health, growth, immunity and development benefits to boot.
Provincial Nutrition Action Officer (PNAO) Rustica Butiu explained that breastfeeding could be done by every mother, working mothers included, as breast milk could be stored in the freezer and later fed to their infants even while they are away from home.
More so, Butiu said that breast milk entails zero expense compared with the prohibitive cost of commercially-produced milk products as she added that it doesn’t get stale or in danger of getting contaminated by insects.
Study shows that breastfeeding has both beneficial effects and gains to the mother and her child.
Breastfed children are more resistant to disease and infection early in life and less likely to contract a number of diseases later in life than those who are formula fed.
On the other hand, mothers who breastfeed are less likely to develop osteoporosis later in life, are easily able to lose weight gained during pregnancy and have a lower risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer. (Pampanga PIO)
