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A new study from WHO / Europe shows that, despite prevention efforts, parts of the European Region of WHO continue to face comparatively higher rates of childhood obesity, while that a second study shows that babies who have never been breastfed or very rarely have been. increased risk of becoming obese as a child.
According to the two studies published at this year's European Congress on Obesity in Glasgow, UK, progress in tackling the childhood obesity crisis has been slow and uneven across the region.
"The longer a child is breastfed, the more he or she is protected from obesity. This knowledge can strengthen our efforts in the prevention of obesity. Acting on childhood obesity – including severe obesity – can have major benefits, not only for the health and well-being of children, but also for national health systems, so we need everything to promote and protect breastfeeding in the Region, "said Dr. Bente Mikkelsen, Director of the Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Lifelong Health Promotion, WHO / Europe.
Consequences of severe obesity
Severe obesity in children is associated with cardiovascular, metabolic and other adverse health outcomes, immediate and long-term. When we compare overweight children to those with severe obesity, these have a much worse cardio-metabolic risk factor profile. According to the new WHO study entitled "Prevalence of severe obesity in primary school children in 21 European countries", severe obesity affects nearly 400,000 of the approximately 13.7 million children aged 6 to 9 years old living in the 21 participating countries.
This study is the first to study the prevalence of severe obesity in school children. Severe obesity is a serious public health problem and the results of this study show that a large number of children in the European Region are suffering from it. Given its impact on education, health, social services and the economy, the new report stresses that obesity must be tackled through a variety of approaches ranging from prevention to early diagnosis and treatment.
Link between breastfeeding and obesity
The second study, "Association of Birth Characteristics, Breastfeeding and Obesity in 22 Countries," found that despite the steady flow of research data showing the health benefits of breastfeeding, as well as many policy initiatives to promote optimal breastfeeding practices, the adoption of exclusive breastfeeding in the European Region remains below the recommended level worldwide.
The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. Subsequently, infants should receive nutritionally adequate complementary foods while continuing breastfeeding until the age of 2 years or older.
This study showed that in almost all countries, over 77% of children were breastfed. some exceptions however: in Ireland, 46% of children were never breastfed, in France 38% and in Malta 35%. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (for 6 months or more) was 25% or more: only in Tajikistan (73%), Turkmenistan (57%), Kazakhstan (51%) and Georgia (35%). %).
According to the study, breastfeeding practices in the Region do not respond to WHO recommendations for a number of reasons, including: ineffective policies to encourage breastfeeding, a lack of breastfeeding. preparation of health professionals to support breastfeeding, intensive marketing of breast-milk substitutes, and problems with maternity protection legislation.
"The promotion of breastfeeding provides a window of opportunity for an obesity prevention policy to address the problem of childhood obesity in the European Region. Existing national policies to promote breastfeeding practices and their development may lead some countries to more or less effectively combat obesity, "said Dr Joao Breda, Head of the European Office for Prevention and Prevention. of noncommunicable disease control, which led the WHO Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative, known as COSI. Research from this initiative was used for both reports.
COSI was established more than 10 years ago to estimate prevalence and monitor the evolution of overweight and obesity in children aged 6 to 9 years. Since then, 5 sets of data have been collected in more than 40 countries and in over half a million children.
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