scholarly journals Monitoring the World Health Organization Global Target 2025 for Exclusive Breastfeeding: Experience From the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 578-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya M. Gupta ◽  
Cria G. Perrine ◽  
Jian Chen ◽  
Laurie D. Elam-Evans ◽  
Rafael Flores-Ayala

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months, calculated from a single 24-hour recall among mothers of children 0 to 5 months of age, is a World Health Organization (WHO) indicator used to monitor progress on the 2025 global breastfeeding target. Many upper-middle-income and high-income countries, including the United States, do not have estimates for this indicator. Research aim: To describe the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months in the United States. Methods: We used a single 24-hour dietary recall from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2012 to calculate the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months. We discuss our results in the context of routine breastfeeding surveillance, which is reported from a national survey with different methodology. Results: Among children younger than 6 months, 24.4%, 95% confidence interval [17.6, 31.1], were exclusively breastfed the previous day. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first estimate of the WHO indicator of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months for the United States. This study supports the global surveillance and data strategy for reporting to the WHO on the 2025 target for exclusive breastfeeding.

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Joseph Meaney ◽  

COVID-19 vaccine passports run the risk of creating a divided society where social privileges or restrictions based on “fitness” lead to discrimination based on immunization status. Individuals have a strong right to be free of coercion to take a COVID-19 vaccine, and we should be very leery of further invasion of private medical decisions. These concerns are shared both internationally and in the United States, and the World Health Organization, the Biden administration, and many US governors oppose COVID-19 vaccine credentials. In addition, regulations for COVID-19 vaccine credentials face practical barriers, including lack of access globally, especially among the poor; and lack of scientific data on the efficacy of these vaccines.


Author(s):  
Majidreza M. Kazempour

Obesity is now replacing undernutrition and infectious diseases as the leading cause of ill health. It is considered as one of the greatest medical challenges to health in the United States; over 65% of American adults are either overweight or obese leading to 320,000 deaths each year in the United States (Kopelman, 2005). The annual medical costs of obesity in the United States are enormous (Bhattacharya and Bundorf, 2009). Globally, according to the World Health Organization, there are more than one billion overweight adults, of which at least 300 million are clinically obese. A recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data (2003–2006) has showed that for children aged 6–11 years and 12–19 years, the prevalence of overweight was 17.0% and 17.6%, respectively.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-504
Author(s):  
Stuart H. Walker

My letter1 called attention to the frequency with which in the United States hypernatremia has been associated with the unsupervised administration of solutions containing sodium in amounts as low as 20 to 50 mmoles/liter.2,3 It has not been demonstrated that solutions similar to that recommended by the World Health Organization (80 to 90 mmoles of sodium per liter), designed for supervised use in the management of the infantile diarrheas of developing countries, are safe in unsupervised use in the United States.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 582-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Soldavini ◽  
Lindsey Smith Taillie

In 1981, the World Health Organization adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes ( International Code), with subsequent resolutions adopted since then. The International Code contributes to the safe and adequate provision of nutrition for infants by protecting and promoting breastfeeding and ensuring that human milk substitutes, when necessary, are used properly through adequate information and appropriate marketing and distribution. Despite the World Health Organization recommendations for all member nations to implement the International Code in its entirety, the United States has yet to take action to translate it into any national measures. In 2012, only 22.3% of infants in the United States met the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of at least 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding. Countries adopting legislation reflecting the provisions of the International Code have seen increases in breastfeeding rates. This article discusses recommendations for translating the International Code into U.S. policy. Adopting legislation that implements, monitors, and enforces the International Code in its entirety has the potential to contribute to increased rates of breastfeeding in the United States, which can lead to improved health outcomes in both infants and breastfeeding mothers.


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