VietNamNet Bridge – In the morning of August 7, the festival of breast-feeding mothers took place at the Vietnam Exhibition and Fair Center in Hanoi.

The festival’s highlight was the breast-feeding show of 200 mothers whose babies are less than six months old.

The event was jointly held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization and the Alive and Thrive project--to urge mothers to breast feeding their babies in the first six months.

Vietnam is among 170 countries in the world that honor breast feeding. However, only 20 percent of mothers breast feed their babies in Vietnam. This is the lowest rate in Southeast Asia and very low in comparison with the world’s average (35 percent) and that of Asia (42 percent).

Consequently, out of each three Vietnamese children, one is lower than standards, and out of each five children, are low-weight. According to research, breast feeding can reduce mortality by 15 percent of kids less than five years old in developing countries.

The breast feeding rate in Vietnam is reducing because Vietnamese mothers lack knowledge of breast feeding.

Some pictures of the breast feeding festival:


PV