• South Asian countries join hands to save babies by strengthening infant and young child feeding 
  IBFAN Asia organized the regional workshop to strengthen infant and young child feeding policies and programmes in South Asia from 9th to 12th December 2014 at Parwanoo Himanchal Pradesh, India. It brought seven South Asian countries together to plan for a “Call to action” event in their respective countries based on the gaps from the WBTi assessment.

• IBFAN contributes as an observer organization in the 9th session of Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF 9) 2015 in New Delhi, India
  IBFAN contributed in the relevant agenda items at the CCCF 9 ,raising the issue of continued exposure of infant and young children consuming cereal based foods contaminated with high level of Deoxynivalenol (DON) & ML of Mycotoxins which may potentially cause serious acute toxic effects in infants and young children, namely, diarrhea, vomiting, gastrointestinal inflammation, and immune modulation as well as some DNA damage with a long term exposure. IBFAN also put across a plea to curb exposure of high risk groups like pregnant and lactating women to methymercury in fish. 

• UNICEF pushes breastfeeding as a priority agenda in Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) for child survival and nutrition
  UNICEF has outlined its priorities for the post-2015 SDGs in their Agenda for Every Child. Nutrition is central to this agenda and breastfeeding is expressed as the cornerstone of child survival, nutrition and early childhood development. Breastfeeding is being endorsed as an imperative intervention to be reflected in the SDGs.    

• IBFAN’s publication “Formula for Disaster: weighing the impact of formula feeding Vs breastfeeding on environment” is now available in Italian
  The path breaking publication aims to raise awareness of the positive impact of breastfeeding on our environment and throws light on the negative impact of formula feeding. This publication positions formula feeding as detrimental to global environment, where as breastfeeding is positioned healthier for mothers, children and the planet.

Global Research Desk

• Negotiating the tensions of having to attach and detach concurrently’: A qualitative study on combining breastfeeding and employment in public education and health sectors in New Delhi, India
  Key Author: Amal Omer-Salim,LicentiateofPhilosophy(MedicalSciences)PhDCandidatea, Shoba Suri,PhD(Nutrition&Physiology) , Jai Prakash Dadhich,MD(Pediatrics) , Mohammad Moonis Akbar Faridi, MD,DCH Professor & Head, Pia Olsson,PhD, Ass professor Senior lecturer
  Name of the Journal: Midwifery 31(2015)473–481
  Objective: The aim of the study was to explore the factors involved in combining breastfeeding and employment in the context of six months of maternity leave in India. It’s a qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using a Grounded Theory approach.
  Conclusion: In spite of a relatively generous maternity leave of six months available to women in government education and health systems compared to the general paid maternity leave of three months in India, several individual, socio-cultural and workplace factors interact to hinder or facilitate the process of combining breastfeeding and employment. Workplace support measures need to be expanded and improved.

• Association between breastfeeding and intelligence, educational attainment, and income at 30 years of age: a prospective birth cohort study from Brazil
  Key Author: Cesar G Victora, Bernardo Lessa Horta, Christian Loret de Mola, Luciana Quevedo, Ricardo Tavares Pinheiro, Denise P Gigante, Helen Gonçalves, Fernando C Barros
  Name of the Journal: The Lancet 
  Objective: Breastfeeding has clear short-term benefits, but its long-term consequences on human capital are yet to be established. The study aimed to assess whether breastfeeding duration was associated with intelligence quotient (IQ), years of schooling, and income at the age of 30 years, in a setting where no strong social patterning of breastfeeding exists.
  Conclusion: Breastfeeding merits on child health such as protection from infectious diseases and a reduction in mortality are well established; moving a step further a recent study proves that it has a direct impact on adult intelligence, educational attainment and income. The study followed up nearly 3,500 babies over 30 years, from all walks of life, and found those who had been breastfed for longer went on to score higher on IQ tests as adults , completing higher schooling and earned higher salaries.