Speaking at an event to mark World Breastfeeding Week held at MLB college in Bhopal Vishwas Sarang, Minister youth and sports said that Mother's milk is like amrit and we need to promote exclusive breastfeeding for all children till six months of age. They should only take breastfeed, and nothing else. He related this to the health of children, women and all. He added that a healthy body is important for a healthy nation and students can be ambassadors of change to spread this message.
Pushpa Awasthy, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF spoke on the importance of colostrum (the first feed) and exclusive breastfeeding and infant and young child feeding practices and how important it is for young people to be aware of it.
Anil Gulati, Communication Specialist UNICEF spoke how young people can take this message to families and communities and break the myth. He spoke on male participation and how both parents can support and make sure that we increase the level of colostrum and exclusive breastfeeding in MP.
Amita Singh Nutritionist from Bhopal spoke on anemia, importance of eating right, diet diversity, and what is healthy and not ? She dissuaded various myths around diets and supplementary products being advertised in the market. Dr Sheela Bhambal, Senior Pediatrician answered queries on breastfeeding and need to push for higher colostrum feed in the State. She said we have around 90 percentage of institutional deliveries and only 41 % of colostrum feeding, which needs to change. Ritu Sharma of Sanidhya was present along with Praveen Thorat, Principal and other faculty members of the MLB college. The event was organised by Sanidhya, NGO in partnership with Impact4Nutrition.