UNC welcomes visit by ‘The Big Pink Bus’ as part of National Breastfeeding Awareness Month
| August 16, 2011 | |
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August has been proclaimed National Breastfeeding Awareness Month by the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee. In honor of the occasion, Milk for Thought, a primarily Web-based organization that aims to raise awareness about breastfeeding, is conducting a nationwide “Latch on America” bus tour during August. One of its 30 nationwide stops was in Chapel Hill, N.C. 
Milk for Thought’s big pink bus
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The national awareness campaign highlights the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding, which includes 20 action areas. The campaign’s goal is to encourage and support optimal feeding – six months of exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding well beyond one or two years, with the addition of complementary foods. Children who are fed less than optimally in the first months of life are more likely to develop ear infections, diarrhea and respiratory illnesses, as well as diabetes, certain cancers, and other life-threatening diseases, and to become obese later in life.
“It’s wonderful to see how this tour has focused local advocacy for connecting pregnant and breastfeeding mothers with local experts, and by energizing support for breastfeeding-friendly hospitals, child care and communities,” said Miriam Labbok, MD, MPH, Professor of the Practice of maternal and child health and CGBI’s director.
