González de Cosío Teresita, Ferré Isabel, Mazariegos Mónica, Pérez-Escamilla Rafael
Health Department, Iberoamerican University, Mexico City, Mexico.
Nutrition and Health Research Center, National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Curr Dev Nutr. 2018 Apr 25;2(6):nzy018. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzy018. eCollection 2018 Jun.
Given the magnitude of the health and economic burden of inadequate breastfeeding practices in Mexico, there is an urgency to improve breastfeeding practices to increase the health and well-being of children and mothers. The Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) Toolbox was recently developed to guide countries in assessing their readiness to and progress with scale-up of breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support and to develop policy recommendations to high-level decision makers.
The aim of this study was to document the BBF process in Mexico, which led to evidence-based recommendations for policymakers to improve breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support in the country.
We followed the BBF methodology. First, a group of experts, with the use of scientific and gray literature, face-to-face interviews, and their own experience, analyzed and assigned a score to each of the 8 gears from the BBF index and identified scaling-up gaps on the basis of the Breastfeeding Gear Model. Then, we developed and presented evidence-based recommendations to improve breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support.
Mexico's BBF score was 1.4 out of a maximum total of 3 points, which indicates that there is a low to moderate scaling-up environment to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. None of the gears were rated as "outstanding," and the legislation and policies gear was the only one rated as strong.
The BBF initiative is a useful tool for assessing the environment for breastfeeding. The Mexican environment for breastfeeding is weak. On the basis of these results, it is strongly recommended to raise national awareness on breastfeeding, incorporate the Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in the Mexican legislations, extend maternity leave to 6 mo, and strengthen evidence-based advocacy and hence the political will that is needed to secure stable funding and resources for a successful national strategy for the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding in Mexico.
鉴于墨西哥母乳喂养不足所带来的健康和经济负担的严重性，迫切需要改善母乳喂养做法，以增进儿童和母亲的健康与福祉。“成为母乳喂养友好型（BBF）工具箱”最近得以开发，旨在指导各国评估其扩大母乳喂养保护、促进和支持工作的准备情况及进展，并为高层决策者制定政策建议。
本研究旨在记录墨西哥的BBF进程，该进程为政策制定者提供了基于证据的建议，以改善该国的母乳喂养保护、促进和支持工作。
我们遵循BBF方法。首先，一组专家利用科学文献、灰色文献、面对面访谈以及他们自身的经验，对BBF指数中的8个维度分别进行分析并打分，并根据母乳喂养维度模型确定扩大规模方面的差距。然后，我们制定并提出了基于证据的建议，以改善母乳喂养保护、促进和支持工作。
墨西哥的BBF得分为1.4分（满分3分），这表明在保护、促进和支持母乳喂养方面，扩大规模的环境处于低到中等水平。没有一个维度被评为“优秀”，立法与政策维度是唯一被评为有力的维度。
BBF倡议是评估母乳喂养环境的一个有用工具。墨西哥的母乳喂养环境较为薄弱。基于这些结果，强烈建议提高全国对母乳喂养的认识，将《母乳代用品销售守则》纳入墨西哥法律，将产假延长至6个月，并加强基于证据的宣传，从而增强政治意愿，以确保为墨西哥成功实施母乳喂养保护、促进和支持的国家战略获得稳定的资金和资源。
