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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | As Kerala HC Supports Photo of Breastfeeding, Data Say Too Few Mothers Practice It

As Kerala HC Supports Photo of Breastfeeding, Data Say Too Few Mothers Practice It

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published Published on Jun 24, 2018   modified Modified on Jun 24, 2018
-TheWire.in

The national average of infants in the age group six to 23 months who receive an adequate diet is a shocking 9.6%.

New Delhi:
The image of a woman breastfeeding on the cover of a popular Malayalam magazine Grihalakshmi was too much for some to bear. A case was even filed in Kerala high court over it. However, the court recently came out in support of the publication, refusing to label the cover as ‘obscene’ and stating that “one man’s vulgarity is another man’s lyric.”

The court also refused to penalise the model-poet-actor Gilu Joseph who was pictured on the cover, the editor as well as others involved in the production of the magazine.

In March, the magazine had published the striking cover with the caption: Mothers tell Kerala, ‘please don’t stare, we need to breastfeed.’

The two-judge bench of the court, dismissing a writ petition filed by Felix M.A., stated in its order:

    “Despite our best efforts, we do not see any obscenity in the picture nor do we find anything objectionable in the caption for men. We looked at the picture with the same eyes as we look at the paintings of artists like Raja Ravi Verma. As beauty lies in the beholder’s eye, so does obscenity perhaps.”

However, official government data says that if anything, more women need to be breastfeeding and there needs to be less social restriction on the practice.

What is the data on breastfeeding in India?

Between 2013-2014, the national average for infants who were breastfed within the vital one hour of their birth was 44.6%. That is only about 12 million out of 26 million babies. Breastfeeding in the first hour of life is important because infants need colostrum – yellowish breast milk produced in the initial days which is rich in antibodies.

In the same period, 64.9% infants under five months were exclusively breastfed. ‘Exclusive breastfeeding’ is a technical term for only feeding breast milk to infants for first six months, which is recommended by doctors everywhere including by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. The exclusivity is rigid – not even water is recommended during exclusive breastfeeding.

Data from the National Family Health Survey 2015-2016 (NFHS-4) shows that the percentage of infants being breastfed in different age groups hovers around 50%. This data is in the chapter on ‘Maternal and Child Health,’ and under ‘Child Feeding Practises.’

Data from 2013-2104 and 2015-2016 shows that these rates have fallen.

According to NFHS-4, the national average for infants under the age of three years who are breastfed within one hour of their birth is 41.6%. The states with the lowest percentages are Rajasthan (28.4%), Uttar Pradesh (25.2%), Delhi (29.1%) and Uttarakhand (27.8%). The states doing best in this area are Goa (73.3%), Mizoram (70.2%), Odisha (68.6%) and Sikkim (66.5%).

The national average of infants under six months who are exclusively breastfed has also dropped considerably, from 64.9% to 54.9%. Here, the worst states are surprising, as they are usually the ones who perform well on other health indicators – Meghalaya (35.8%), Uttar Pradesh (41.6%), Nagaland (44.5%), Puducherry (45.5%), Tamil Nadu (48.3%) and Delhi (49.8%). The highest percentages are found in Chhattisgarh (77.2%), Manipur (73.6%), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (72.7%) and Tripura (70.7%).

Please click here to read more.


TheWire.in, 22 June, 2018, https://thewire.in/health/kerala-high-court-breastfeeding-cover


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