Here's Why Breastfeeding Is Important For Health And The Economy

New findings published in The Lancet examine the health and economic benefits of breastfeeding.

The findings revealed that breastfeeding could help save as many as 820,000 lives and increase the funds for the global economy by as much as $302 million.

"There is a widespread misconception that the benefits of breastfeeding only relate to poor countries. Nothing could be further from the truth," said lead study author Cesar Victora, of Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, in a news release. "Our work for this series clearly shows that breastfeeding saves lives and money in all countries, rich and poor alike. Therefore, the importance of tackling the issue globally is greater than ever."

Details revealed that only about one in five children in high-income countries are breastfed-which can lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Breastfeeding has also been linked to a number of other health benefits, including fewer ear infections, respiratory illness and bouts of diarrhea in babies exclusively breastfed during the first 6 months. Other studies show that it can also reduce the risk of asthma.

The current information is based on the Breastfeeding Series, which examines the benefits and trends of breastfeeding from 28 systematic reviews, 22 specially comission meta-analyses and over 1,300 studies. Researchers determined costs by analyzing a 2015 meta-analysis, which suggests that breastfeeding for longer periods help improve congitive performance. Furthermore, researchers also found that higher performances were three IQ points above those who performed worse. 

However, it's important to keep in mind that not all mothers are able to breastfeed, and even for some that can, hormonal disorders, medications and other problems can cause an insufficient amount of milk for the child. Fortunately, for women who are fixed on providing breast milk for their baby, there are breast milk donors out there that can provide.

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