Waste-free breastmilk
gets ecogroups’ support

Environmentalists threw their support behind the shared effort of the government and the civil society to promote and protect breastmilk, the most healthy and ecologically-sound food for babies.

Waste and pollution activists belonging to the EcoWaste Coalition conveyed their support for breastfeeding as the government clashed with the milk industry at the Supreme Court last week over the legality of the revised implementing rules and regulations that tighten the 20-year old National Milk Code and expand the ban on the promotion of breastmilk substitutes for children up to two years of age.

"We, women and men who have been blessed to be breastfed by our mothers, add our voice to the raging battle to defend our culture of breastfeeding from being weakened by publicity gimmicks that only seek to create a larger market for infant formula and rake in profits for milk and advertising companies," said Gigie Cruz-Sy, a lactating mother and member of the EcoWaste Coalition.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that Filipinos spend some P21.5 billion a year to feed babies with commercial breastmilk substitutes.

Echoing the concern of public health experts, the EcoWaste Coalition expressed shock over the disturbing decline in breastfeeding in the Philippines. Data from the 2003 National Demographic and Health Survey showed that only 16.1 percent of infants are solely breastfed up to four to five months of age, down from 20 percent in 1998. The waning rate in breastfeeding has been linked to the death of some 16,000 children under five due to improper feeding practices.

The EcoWaste Coalition affirmed that breastmilk offers the best nutritional start in life for children, providing babies with vital nutrients, sufficient water for hydration, and health-enhancing antibodies and enzymes to protect them against infection and allergy. Breastfeeding allows a healthy bonding between the baby and the mother and further helps in birth spacing.