BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

New proposed guidelines for New Jersey hospitals would promote breast-feeding for the state’s new mothers.

Research has shown that children who breastfeed are less likely to be obese, or develop respiratory infections or diabetes.

The Courier Post reported that according to New Jersey Health Department’s proposed regulations, mothers who decide to breastfeed would receive education and encouragement, and those who have problems would be given extra aid.

But meanwhile, other new reports indicate that questionable promotion by companies that produce infant formula are putting babies at risk in developing countries. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that agency Save the Children Nestle, Danone, Mead Johnson, Abbott, Enfamil and Friso as being among the operations involved.

The report says declining breast-feeding rates in East Asia and part of Africa come from insufficient education, a lack of health workers, and inappropriate marketing by some formula makers. The research indicated that a number of Pakistani health workers and Chinese mothers had been given gifts or formula samples from the companies.

Use of milk substitutes can be dangerous to infants in poorer areas because of a lack of clean water.

In New Jersey, state health commissioner Mary O'Dowd said the guidelines would keep breastfeeding regulations of all New Jersey hospitals with maternity wards uniform. "They have to work together to train all the practitioners and nurses that treat both the mother and the baby," she said, according to NewsWorks. "They need to have policies that help support mothers and babies through education and support services.”

According to an Associated Press report in SFGate, about 80 percent of newborns in New Jersey newborns are breastfed, above the national average, and the World Health Organization has certified four state hospitals as “baby-friendly.”