The World Health Organization says exclusive breastfeeding can save millions of infant lives every year. As World Breastfeeding Week gets underway, W.H.O. and its partners are promoting mother's milk as the best way to give babies a healthy start in life.
世界卫生组织说，婴儿只吃母乳每年可以挽救数百万婴儿的生命。世卫组织在“母乳喂养周”到来之际，正和有关组织一起大力提倡完全母乳喂养，说这是让婴儿从生命一开始就走上健康之旅的最佳途径。
The World Health Organization recommends exclusively breastfeeding babies until they are six months of age. And it says continued breastfeeding up to two years of age and beyond will greatly reduce child deaths caused by infection and malnutrition in developing countries.
世界卫生组织建议完全用母乳喂养婴儿，直到婴儿6个月大。世卫组织说，在发展中国家，母亲持续不断地母乳喂养两年或者更长时间，就可以大大减少儿童因为感染疾病或者营养不良导致的死亡。
WHO estimates 3.5 million children die every year of malnutrition. It says up to 1.5 million children could be saved by increasing breastfeeding.
世卫组织估计，每年有350万儿童死于营养不良。该组织说，增加母乳喂养可以拯救多达150万儿童。
Maria del Carmen Casanovas is a Technical Officer in WHO's Department for Nutrition for Health and Development. She tells VOA mother's milk contains important nutrients, vitamins and minerals that are found nowhere else. And these provide immunities against a host of infections and diseases.
玛莉安.卡萨诺瓦斯是世卫组织健康与发展营养部的技术官员。她说，母亲的乳汁里含有重要营养成分，含有其他喂养食品中都没有的维他命和矿物质，这些营养成分让婴儿获得抵御各种感染和疾病的免疫力。
"It defends the baby against all the potential microbia that can affect him," she said. "So, that is why the child will have less episodes of diarrhea, will have less experiences with respiratory infections and also less likely to die because of common childhood illnesses, especially diarrhea and pneumonia."
她说：“母乳的养分可以保护婴儿不感染所有可能是细菌引起的疾病。这就是为什么母乳喂养的孩子更少患腹泻、更少患呼吸道感染的原因，特别是减少了像腹泻和肺炎这类普通儿童疾病导致的死亡风险。”
The World Health Organization acknowledges that breastfeeding may not be appropriate in all cases. For instance, if a mother is HIV-positive, she could transmit the disease to her baby through breast-feeding.
世卫组织承认，母乳喂养也许不是在所有情况下都适合。比如说，一位母亲如果感染上艾滋病毒，她有可能通过乳汁把艾滋病毒传染给婴儿。
But Doctor Casanovas says WHO believes that in many places where HIV is prevalent, it still might be better for mothers to choose breastfeeding over formula milk.
不过，卡萨诺瓦斯医生说，世卫组织认为，在艾滋病横行的一些地方，母乳喂养恐怕还是比配方牛奶喂养婴儿要好些。
"If the mother is positive, that mother needs to take an individual decision. We cannot tell the mother there is not one size fits all," she said. "According to the environment, the risk may be...of the baby dying because of other illnesses, other infectious diseases might be a lot higher than the risk of becoming HIV-positive and of dying because of the HIV."
她说：“如果母亲感染上艾滋病毒，她就需要自己做出决定是否母乳喂养。我们无法告诉这位母亲哪一种喂养方法是万灵药。这要视环境而定，婴儿也有可能死于其他疾病的风险，婴儿感染上其他疾病的可能性恐怕会远远高于感染上艾滋病毒，死于艾滋病的可能性。”
For example, many developing countries do not have safe water and mixing contaminated water with powdered formula is a common cause of death among infants.
比如说，很多发展中国家缺乏安全的饮水，用污染水调制的配方奶粉是婴儿死亡的一个主要原因。
WHO says mother's milk is best everywhere in the world, in rich and poor countries alike. New studies show breastfeeding can protect children against chronic diseases later in life. Breast fed babies are at lower risk of getting high blood pressure, high cholesterol, of becoming obese and of developing type 2 diabetes.
世卫组织说，不论在富裕国家还是在贫穷国家，母乳是世界上最好的婴儿食品。新的研究显示，母乳可以保护孩子成人后有更少的可能患上慢性病。母乳喂养的婴儿长大后患高血压、高胆固醇、肥胖症与2型糖尿病等疾病的风险较低。 |