A study published recently in the Pediatrics Magazine reaches this conclusion: Exclusive breastfeeding for at least six months could save almost 1000 lives a year in the United States, country that has been the subject of the study.
The antecedent of the work is a study carried out in 2001, which revealed that more than 3 and a half billion dollars could be saved in healthcare expenses if breastfeeding rates were increased to their optimum level: exclusive breastfeeding up to six months in 90% of cases. This work studied three of the best known diseases that increase its incidence with artificial lactation, accounting medical expenses and preventable premature deaths.
Based on these data, they have been updated with the 2007 data on the incidence of breastfeeding collected by the US State Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Using methods similar to those of 2001 have analyzed medical expenses and deaths current, projecting those that can be calculated if 90% of babies received exclusive breastfeeding the first six months of their life.
They have taken into account health costs derived from the most common diseases that are considered scientifically associated with a lower rate of breastfeeding: eteuia idim t
Necrotizing enterocolitis, otitis media, gastroenteritis, hospitalization for lower respiratory infections, atopic dermatitis, sudden infant death syndrome, childhood asthma, childhood leukemia, type 1 diabetes mellitus and childhood obesity.
The results reveal that if 90% of North American babies received exclusive breastfeeding for six months, the savings in health spending would be 13 billion dollars and almost 1000 deaths could be prevented, with more than 10 billion expenses directly incurred in babies and 741 deaths of infants.
The conclusion is that reaching optimal breastfeeding levels would mean high savings in medical and health costs and could also mean a significant decrease in the number of preventable deaths of babies.
Pointing out that exclusive breastfeeding would save almost 1000 lives a year in the United States We have to assimilate the data and expect a more effective campaign to promote breastfeeding at all levels. Extrapolating these results to the Spanish or world reality is not feasible with the available data, but the result of the study again makes achieving higher rates of exclusive breastfeeding as one of the most important achievements to improve health. and child survival.
