Breakthroughs Today

THE FOOD AND Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) reported that exclusive feeding have gone up from 36 percent in 2008 to 47 percent in 2011. Exclusive feeding is the practice of feeding infants with only breast milk for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health. This means giving no other food or drink--not even water--other than breast milk. The initiation breastfeeding done within one hour of delivery has increased from 32 percent to 52 percent in the same four-year period. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) lauded the accomplishment, and attributed it to Executive Order 51, or the Milk Code of the Philippines , that late president Corazon Aquino signed into law in 1986. This law requires giving women clear information on the benefits of breastfeeding without undue influence from infant formula companies. Sources WHO: "Up to what age can a baby stay well nourished b

THE INFANT AND Pediatric Nutrition Association of the Philippines (IPNAP), a lobby group representing multinational manufacturers of infant-nutrition products in the country such as Abbott Laboratories, Fontera Brands, MeadJohnson Nutrition, Nestle and Wyeth, had questioned on 21 December 2011 the implementing rules that the Department of Health (DOH) drafted for Executive Order 51 (EO51), otherwise known as the Milk Code, that sought to regulate false health claims and attractive marketing strategies to promote milk-replacement products that undermine the government's program promoting breastfeeding among Filipino mothers. But the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court ruled that DOH has all the right to establish implementing rules being the sole government authority tasked in implementing the Milk Code.  This development came after the results of the Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) study in 2008 showed last year that the Philippines had a very week breastfe

The mother's remains an irreplaceable food for newborn children up to a year. But often it can be as unsafe as the mother's health state. HALF a decade ago, childhood obesity alarmed health authorities around the world as it emerged as an epidemic. Rapidly increasing rates of youths suffering from Type 2 (insulin-dependent) diabetes had been observed. Last year, the Canadian Diabetes Association, Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research conducted a study attempting to determine how much of it can be due to the mother’s milk. Scientists believe that the human breast milk may hold some key in understanding this development as it is the preferred food during infancy. It contains an array of bioactive compounds, including metabolic compounds. Sometime this year or next the result of this study may provide us the answer. What are known so far about the human mother’s milk can be considered educational already, both to upcoming mothers