Breastfeeding: SL on top in S Asia

Sri Lanka achieves high EBF rate of 76 percent :

Irangika RANGE

Sri Lanka tops South Asia in exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), UNICEF regional office for South Asia nutrition specialist Julia Krasevec said. Delivering a special lecture on infant and young child feeding practices and programmes in South Asia at the South Asia Regional Knowledge Forum on sharing lessons from community experiences on improving infant and young child nutrition held in Kathmandu, Nepal, she said it is necessary to strengthen infant and young child feeding (IYCF) programmes to reduce stunting and improve development in South Asian countries. The forum was convened by the World Bank.

According to statistics available for 2006 and 2007, Sri Lanka has achieved a high EBF rate of 76 percent for 0 to five month old babies while the rates of EBF is 37 percent in Pakistan, 53 percent in Nepal, 46 percent in India and 43 percent in Bangladesh.