Applied Research Collaborations for Health, School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2012 Apr;9(4):1308-18. doi: 10.3390/ijerph9041308. Epub 2012 Apr 16.
Healthy public policy plays a central role in creating environments that are supportive of health. Breastfeeding, widely supported as the optimal mode for infant feeding, is a critical factor in promoting infant health. In 2005, the Canadian province of Nova Scotia introduced a provincial breastfeeding policy. This paper describes the process and outcomes of an evaluation into the implementation of the policy. This evaluation comprised focus groups held with members of provincial and district level breastfeeding committees who were tasked with promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding in their districts. Five key themes were identified, which were an unsupportive culture of breastfeeding; the need for strong leadership; the challenges in engaging physicians in dialogue around breastfeeding; lack of understanding around the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes; and breastfeeding as a way to address childhood obesity. Recommendations for other jurisdictions include the need for a policy, the value of leadership, the need to integrate policy with other initiatives across sectors and the importance of coordination and support at multiple levels. Finally, promotion of breastfeeding offers a population-based strategy for addressing the childhood obesity epidemic and should form a core component of any broader strategies or policies for childhood obesity prevention.
健康的公共政策在营造支持健康的环境方面发挥着核心作用。母乳喂养作为婴儿喂养的最佳模式，得到了广泛支持，是促进婴儿健康的关键因素。2005 年，加拿大新斯科舍省出台了省级母乳喂养政策。本文描述了对该政策实施情况进行评估的过程和结果。该评估包括与负责在各自地区推广、保护和支持母乳喂养的省级和地区级母乳喂养委员会成员举行的焦点小组会议。确定了五个关键主题，即母乳喂养的文化支持不足；需要强有力的领导；在与医生就母乳喂养进行对话方面的挑战；对《国际母乳代用品销售守则》的理解不足；以及母乳喂养是解决儿童肥胖问题的一种方式。对其他司法管辖区的建议包括需要制定政策、领导的重要性、需要将政策与其他部门的倡议相结合，以及在多个层面进行协调和支持的重要性。最后，促进母乳喂养为解决儿童肥胖症流行提供了一种基于人群的策略，应成为任何更广泛的儿童肥胖症预防战略或政策的核心组成部分。
