Only 25% babies breastfed for six months in Odisha: Report

‘Let’s promote breastfeeding in State’

BHUBANESWAR: Though our State Government advocates for strong campaigns to make the mothers aware about the benefit of breastfeeding of children for the first six months, yet the compliance rate in Odisha continues to be abysmally low said a survey report released recently. According to the Annual Health Survey 2010-11 reports, only around 24.8 per cent of the lactating mothers in the State adhere to exclusive breastfeeding over the prescribed six months.

‘Initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of child birth, exclusive breastfeeding till six months and breastfeeding with supplementary nutrition till two years of age is extremely vital for a child to grow properly’ said Deputy Director, Nutrition, Director of Health Services Dr BP Mohapatra while addressing the State-level celebration of World Breastfeeding Week here organised by Save the Children.

The report has revealed the status of breastfeeding in Odisha. State has been ranked 7th position in the country for initiating breastfeeding within one hour of child birth with 54.8 percent and ranked 12th in exclusive breastfeeding within six months having only 50.2 percent.

As high as 71.5 per cent of children in the State are breast-fed within one hour of birth against 69.6 in Assam, 66.9 in Chhattishgarh, 63.2 in Uttarakhand and 61.5 per cent in Madhya Pradesh. Exclusive breastfeeding practices through six months have made significant ground in Chhattishgarh, with almost half of its population in compliance, followed by Jharkhand at 45.6 and Assam at 39.2 per cent. Only Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh fare worse than Odisha with 24.7 per cent and 17.7 per cent respectively.

The irony manifests in the districts too as the backward and tribal-dominated districts fare better than their more developed and advanced coastal counterparts. The impoverished district of Kandhamal has shown a very appreciable compliance to exclusive breastfeeding at 57.2 per cent along with Nuapada at 48.4 per cent, Nabarangpur at 46.8 per cent and Koraput at 41.5 per cent.

In contrast, in the industrial hub of Angul district, only 5.1 per cent of children between 6 and 35 months of age were found to have been exclusively breast-fed for at least six months. In the most urban districts of Cuttack and Khurda, the rates have been 35.7 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.

According to experts, low level of awareness coupled with commercial inclinations among the physicians has led to such a situation. Early initiation has shot up due to a significant rise in institutional deliveries in the State, but sustaining exclusive breastfeeding over at least six months remains a problem area.

Doctors, who are the prime refuge of the mothers during any problem, are not coming forward to educate them about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. They still have the tendency to prescribe milk substitutes at the slightest of instance, according to the gynecologist Dr Seva Mohapatra.