Breastfeeding campaigns must catch up: Unicef

JAKARTA: The government must step up its breastfeeding campaign in Indonesia amid the baby-formula producers’ campaign, which targets to increase sales by 37 percent, a Unicef specialist said Tuesday.

David Clark, Unicef’s nutrition specialist, said that Euromonitor Report data recorded that formulated-milk producers targeted to increase their sales by 37 percent between 2008 and 2013 across Asia Pacific, and that they specifically targeted Indonesia and China as the most lucrative markets.

“It is a very serious matter because they are encouraging women to lessen the breastfeeding of their children. They try to make their products more modern, comfortable and easy to use, just like breast milk,” he said.

Clark said that the producers targeted countries that had loose breastfeeding regulations.

According to Indonesia’s 2007 Demography and Health Survey, the consumption of formula milk in Indonesia increased from 15 percent from 2003-2004 to 30 percent in 2007. The number of babies consuming exclusive breast milk also decreased from 40 percent from 2003-2004 to 30 percent in 2007. — JP