Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ8: Breastfeeding
Following is a question by the Hon Fred Li and a written reply by the Secretary
for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (February
23):
Question:
The World Health Organization has pointed out that breastmilk is the best food
for the healthy growth and development of babies, and that babies under six
months of age should preferably be exclusively breastfed, and then continue to
be breastfed supplemented by other foods until the age of two or above.
Regarding the promotion of breastfeeding in Hong Kong, will the Government
inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the respective current percentages of babies who are
exclusively breastfed in the first month and within six months of birth, as well
as the percentages of those who continue to be breastfed supplemented by other
foods until the age of two; of the criteria based on which the authorities
assess if breastfeeding in Hong Kong has reached a satisfactory level;
(b) whether the authorities had conducted any research or survey in the past
three years to gauge whether the public, particularly parents of new-born
babies, understand that breastmilk is more beneficial to babies' healthy growth
and development than infant formula, the public's knowledge of infant formula,
and the influence of infant formula advertisements on mothers' decision on
whether or not they will breastfeed and when they will use infant formula; if
they had, of the details; if not, whether the authorities have any plan to
conduct such a survey to provide the basis for promoting breastfeeding and
regulating infant formula; and
(c) whether, when drawing up the Hong Kong Code of Marketing of Breastmilk
Substitutes, the task force set up by the Food and Health Bureau will organise
group discussions to understand the situation and needs of parents using
breastmilk substitutes, as well as consult businessmen who manufacture and sell
breastmilk substitutes, to ensure effective implementation of the Code in the
future in order to protect babies' health and development?
Reply:
President,
Breastfeeding is an important public health issue. The World Health Organization
(WHO) recommends breastfeeding as the way of providing the best food for healthy
growth and development of infants. It recommends that babies under six months of
age should preferably be exclusively breastfed, and then continue to be
breastfed along with supplementary foods up to two years of age or beyond. The
Government has all along endeavoured to promote, protect and support
breastfeeding, and implement this policy through the Department of Health (DH)
and Hospital Authority (HA). Healthcare professionals provide counselling
service for breastfeeding mothers, and help post-natal women acquire
breastfeeding skills and tackle the problems they may encounter during
breastfeeding.
(a) The DH carries out regular breastfeeding surveys in its maternal and child
health centres (MCHCs). The survey findings indicated that of the babies born in
2008, the percentage of ever-breastfed babies was 74%. Among them, the
percentage of babies breastfed continuously for one month, two months, four
months, six months and twelve months was 54%, 40%, 31%, 24% and 10%
respectively, while the percentage of babies exclusively breastfed for four to
six months was 12.7%.
Over the past 10 years, the Government has been working to promote
breastfeeding. Such efforts have borne fruits, as evidenced by the increase in
the percentage of newborn babies who had been ever-breastfed from 55% in 2000 to
77% in 2009. The Government will continue its efforts to further enhance the
breastfeeding rate in Hong Kong.
(b) The DH has recently conducted a survey to gauge the knowledge, attitude and
behaviour of about 1,000 parents, who have children aged one to four, on feeding
of young children with milk products. The findings will be officially released
in mid-2011. The data of the findings preliminarily shows that some parents do
not have a thorough understanding of a balanced diet for babies and infants. The
DH will continue to publicise positive health information through different
channels to enhance parents' understanding on diet for babies and infants. It
also plans to produce a parenting education kit on healthy diet for babies and
infants, which will include a parents' handbook, education VCDs and recipes,
etc.
(c) The Government will put in place a Hong Kong Code of Marketing of
Breast-milk Substitutes (the Hong Kong Code), with the aim to exercise
regulation over the manufacturers and distributors of breast-milk substitutes so
as to prohibit them from advertising and marketing their breast-milk substitutes
and related products by way of malpractice. In developing the Code, the
Government will take into account the details and scope of regulation
recommended in the WHO Code. In the light of some overseas experience, no
negotiation will be made with manufacturers and distributors of breast-milk
substitutes during the process. When the Code comes into effect, we will monitor
its implementation to ensure that the correct information reaches the parents.
Ends/Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Issued at HKT 16:08
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