2007年VOA标准英语-Study Finds Early Breastfeeding Can Save Babies

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
01 August 2007

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WHO Breastfeeding awareness poster

The World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund say breast-feeding babies immediately after birth can prevent many neonatal deaths in developing countries. The U.N. agencies are promoting the life-saving benefits of early breastfeeding as the theme for this year's World Breastfeeding Week, which gets under way Wednesday. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from WHO headquarters in Geneva.

The results of a study conducted in Ghana show that 16 percent of neonatal deaths could be prevented by breastfeeding infants from birth. That figure rises to 22 percent, if breastfeeding begins within one hour of birth.

Scientist and baby nutrition expert at the World Health Organization, Randa Saadeh, tells VOA mother's milk confers natural immunities² to the baby.

"This is all that the child needs. It is like the first immunization," she explains. "The first shot you give the baby. It has all the immunological factors that could save and protect the neonatal, the newborn from infectious disease - mainly diarrheal disease and acute respiratory infections."

The World Health Organization estimates the lives of 1.3 million children under the age of five could be saved each year by exclusively breast-feeding babies for the first six months. It says breast-fed babies in rich and poor countries, alike, get a better start in life.

A Mozambiquan mother breastfeeds her baby in Meringue (file photo)

It says the issue is particularly relevant in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has the highest infant mortality rate in the world. It says about 10 percent of all babies die before the age of one and most neonatal deaths occur at home.

Sub-Saharan Africa also is the region with the highest rate of HIV/AIDS. WHO nutritionist Saadeh admits this creates a dilemma³ for HIV-positive mothers who have limited access to clean water and sanitation⁴.

She says new mothers have to weigh the risk of passing on the infection to their infant against the risk of denying them breast milk.

"Exclusive breast feeding by the HIV-infected woman for the first six months of life is safer than mixed feeding," she notes. "The worst thing the mother can do is mixed feeding, which means a bit of breast feeding, a bit formula feeding, because this is the worst condition we can have."

Saadeh explains that, during the first two months of life, a bottle-fed baby is nearly six times more likely to die from diarrhea and a host of other infections than a breast-fed child. She says, in Africa, contaminated water often is used in mixing the formula.

She says another problem is poor mothers often will dilute⁵ the infant formula with a lot of water to make it last longer. She says this provides the baby with fewer nutrients⁶, leading to malnutrition⁷.

1 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

2 immunities   

免除，豁免( immunity的名词复数 )； 免疫力

参考例句：

• Supplying nutrients and immunities to my baby? 为我的宝贝提供营养物质和免疫物质？
• And these provide immunities against the a host of infections and diseases. 这些物质可提高婴儿的免疫力，使之免受病毒感染和疾病侵袭。

3 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

4 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

5 dilute   

vt.稀释，冲淡；adj.稀释的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The water will dilute the wine.水能使酒变淡。
• Zinc displaces the hydrogen of dilute acids.锌置换了稀酸中的氢。

6 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。