We all know the benefits that breastfeeding has for mother and baby. Whether in its first months or in cases of prolonged lactation, the benefits of breastfeeding are innumerable.
But now, a new study carried out by scientists from Imperial College London, affirms that its benefits not only affect the health of mother and child, but also help curb climate change and environmental degradation , contributing to savings of more than 100 kg of CO2 per baby.
Formula milk production has a strong environmental impact
The study, published in the British Medical Journal and led by Dr. Natalie Shenker, has focused on analyzing the environmental cost of formula production , and therefore the importance of supporting breastfeeding to reduce it.
According to the researchers, the food industry, particularly meat and dairy production, accounts for around 30 percent of greenhouse gases , due to methane gas generated by livestock, which turns out to be 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide .
In addition, the production of infant formulas would carry a significant water footprint (environmental indicator that defines the total volume of fresh water used to produce the goods and services we consume) of approximately 4,700 liters per kilogram .
But this is not all, because to the greenhouse gases and the water footprint we should add the environmental costs derived from the production of the additives that are contained in infant formulas (such as palm oil, coconut, rapeseed, sunflower, fish oils , minerals, vitamins …), the use of paper (364,000 tons per year), plastic waste, metal from cans (86,000 tons per year), transportation during the multiple stages of production, and even the derived energy costs boiling water to safely prepare bottles.
Breastfeeding would save more than 100 kg of CO2 per baby
Specifically, according to study data, feeding a baby exclusively with formula milk for the first six months requires 21 kg of food, which generates a climate impact of 226–288 kg of CO2 in total, while the range for breastfeeding breastfeeding is approximately 123–162 kg CO2, resulting in a net benefit of breastfeeding of 95-153 kg CO2.
In other words, if all babies in the UK were breastfed for six months, there would be savings in carbon emissions equivalent to the pollution produced by between 50,000 and 77,500 cars .
And it is that to breastfeed the baby few water and land resources are needed, there are no carbon emissions and waste is minimal or zero. But in addition to all this, the benefits that it entails for maternal and child health have an impact on less use of health care and, therefore, greater savings for the public health service.
Promoting breastfeeding: everyone’s job
Despite the important benefits that breastfeeding has for health and the environment, the researchers of this study assure that only 41% of the 141 million babies born annually in the world are exclusively breastfed for up to six months . And not precisely because mothers do not want it, since the percentage of women who want to breastfeed is very high.
But unfortunately, the difficulties that women often have to face in absolute solitude, leads them to abandon breastfeeding prematurely and to feel great pain, anger and helplessness for not having been able to breastfeed for longer.
To this end, it is urgent to eliminate the obstacles that nursing mothers often face , improve lactation training for health professionals, guarantee comfortable and well-conditioned spaces (also in companies) so that mothers can breastfeed. their children, and in general, promote a cultural change that protects and supports mothers so that they can breastfeed as long as possible.
Photo | iStock
Via | MedicalXpress
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