World Breastfeeding Day: Osun Govt Tasks Nursing Mothers on 6 Months Exclusive Breastfeeding

Osun State Government has tasked nursing mothers across the state on the significance of six months exclusive breastfeeding, saying it is a crucial step towards improving child health and promoting societal wellbeing.

Speaking during a One-day Public Enlightenment Meeting held to mark the World Breastfeeding Week, on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, emphasized on the need for exclusive breastfeeding in the early stages of a child’s life, stating that it plays a critical role in the physical and mental development of infants.

According to him, You know, the focus has always been politics, politics and politics. So it is high time that we divert our attention from the politics and do the real governance.

“Part of it is food and nutrition and the aspect of it we are dealing with today is the issue of breastfeeding.

“You can see that there is a room, this is the period of August 1 to August 7 to promote breastfeeding. And the importance can not be over emphasized that in the development of an infant, of a child, breastfeeding is very, very key.

“And if a child is properly developed today, you grow to become a good person in the society.”

Speaking at the event, the State Nutrition Officer, Popoola Oluwakemi, called for renewed commitment to exclusive breastfeeding, urging nursing mothers to breastfeed their babies for the first six months of life without giving water, herbs, or other food.

Her words, “so it is best that we breastfeed our child exclusively without any water, herbs or any other food for the first six months. And another thing important that we want to pass is that after six months, do not give any processed food.

“We advocate for locally affordable, available food that we eat in our community, and we go around that and that is a whole lot of lectures around that.”