2019 marks the eighth year since the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) marked August as National Breastfeeding Month. The observance is dedicated to improving the nation’s health by working collaboratively to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for most infants and can also reduce the risk for some short- and long-term health conditions for both infants and mothers. However, the CDC flags that only one in four infants is exclusively breastfed as recommended by the time they are six months old and low rates of breastfeeding add more than $3 billion a year to medical costs for the mother and child in the U.S. Additionally, black infants are 21% less likely to have ever been breastfed than white infants.
To shed light on the benefits of breastfeeding, last year Kaiser Permanente released a 30-year study that found breastfeeding for six months or longer cut the risk of developing type 2 diabetes nearly in half for women throughout their childbearing years. Kaiser Permanente’s findings add to a growing body of evidence that breastfeeding has protective effects for both mothers and their offspring, including lowering a mother’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
To learn more about the various benefits of breastfeeding, be sure to visit the Center for Total Health, where we have a range of educational content available highlighting the very strong association of breastfeeding to lowering a range of risk of factor in both mothers and their infants.
About the Center for Total Health
The Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health hosts internal and external educational events. All events – including annual banquets, quarterly meetings, trainings, interviews – feature healthy catering options and can be customized to incorporate the interactive exhibits that make the Center for Total health experience both fun and informative for attendees. If your organization is interested in hosting an event, please send us an event request via our website. We look forward to hearing from you!
