Resumo

VIEIRA, Tamires dos Santos; MORAIS, Tassiane Cristina  e  CASTRO, Teresa Gontijo de. Breastfeeding Support for All: Narrowing Inequalities for Nurturing a Future That Is Fair and Sustainable. J. Hum. Growth Dev. [online]. 2024, vol.34, n.3, pp.376-382.  Epub 11-Abr-2025. ISSN 0104-1282.  https://doi.org/10.36311/jhgd.v34.16851.

Early initiation of breastfeeding, duration, and exclusivity are internationally recommended practices to maximize impact in preventing and reducing the double burden of malnutrition, reducing child mortality and other morbidities, improving child development, and reducing health costs. The protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding are also central to countries' commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Global progress in breastfeeding rates has been reported in past years. However, many children are still left behind and are not receiving the numerous benefits of breastfeeding. There are also relevant inequities in breastfeeding rates across global regions and countries and between groups from different socioeconomic statuses and cultural backgrounds within countries. These inequities are also extended to the frequency and availability of comparable standardized indicators worldwide. In 2023, globally only 39% of the countries provided information on exclusive breastfeeding rates to the age of six months, and 7% assessed their overall breastfeeding support programs in the past five years. The increase in the coverage and frequency of monitoring globally agreed breastfeeding targets and the assessment of the impact of breastfeeding programs are imperative to providing breastfeeding support for all and increasing breastfeeding prevalence equitably. Breastfeeding can be an equalizer in society; no one should be left behind. Only this way can breastfeeding mums be celebrated in all their diversity and journeys, attending the 2024 World Breastfeeding Week call.

Palavras-chave : Breastfeeding; Global Nutrition Targets; Sustainable Development Goals; Inequalities.

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