WHO's proposed global strategy for infant and young child feeding: a viewpoint

The Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding is being developed by the WHO and is likely to be adopted as World Health Assembly Resolution in the month of May, 2002. The global strategy is built on Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes and the Innocenti Declaration on the Protection, Promotion and Support of Breastfeeding. It emphasises the need for comprehensive national policies on infant and child health feeding including guidelines on ensuring appropriate feeding of infants and young children in exceptionally difficult circumstances and to ensure that all health services protect, promote and support breastfeeding exclusively for first 6 months and then timely and adequate complementary feeding with continued breastfeeding for two years or beyond. Thus the strategy is to improve nutritional status, growth and development, health and survival of infants and young children. It recognises that mothers should have adequate information and support within their families and communities should be free and should be free from commercial influence. The strategy mentions an effective feeding policy with some critical interventions as elaborated in this article.