Trends of Breastfeeding in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Zainab Taha

doi:10.18502/ajne.v2i3.1356

Abstract

In 1990, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) declared a “global goal” for protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding (Innocenti Declaration) (WHO/UNICEF 1990). In 1991 health care authorities in the UAE started to implement breastfeeding promotion and support programs across the country. To date, there are ongoing national efforts and investments in these programs including development and update of policies and strategies.This mini review evaluates the trends of infant and child feeding practices in the UAE over the last few decades to assess the progress attributed to the rollout and implementation of breastfeeding promotion programs.Keywords: Breastfeeding, United Arab Emirates, Nutrition.

Highlights

Editor-in-Chief: Dr Dimitrios PapandreouOfficial Publication of Zayed University, United Arab Emirates (UAE)The numerous benefits of breastfeeding for infants and mothers have long been recognized, understood and well documented
The rates of exclusive breastfeeding in the UAE are still suboptimal, the review of the various studies and surveys conducted on breastfeeding indicates steady improvement
The results point to some variation which could be attributed to the strong diversity among people living in the UAE

Summary

Introduction

The numerous benefits of breastfeeding for infants and mothers have long been recognized, understood and well documented. And EBF enables children to survive and thrive, it supports healthy brain development, improves cognitive performance and is further associated with better educational achievement at age 5 [22]. Various policy initiatives, including the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes (1981), the Innocenti Declaration (1990), the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) (1991), and the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding (2002) have been developed and adopted by the UAE to improve breastfeeding outcomes. The results of the campaign have shown a positive impact on breastfeeding promotion, protection, and support as illustrated by the increased exclusive breastfeeding rate at 6 months from 18.1% in 2011 to 39.86% following the campaign

An Overview of breastfeeding status over the past four decades

Conclusions

Findings

Recommendations