Women are being encouraged to breastfeed their babies since breast milk offered the best nutrients for the needs of the baby.

Speaking as part of the breastfeeding week being celebrated until Saturday, Health Minister Joseph Cassar said this morning that exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of a baby’s life reduced the problem of overweight children and reduced the incidence of chronic diseases later in life.

He said that local statistics showed that 56 per cent of women breastfed their babies after they left hospital in 2010 and 2011 and 588 babies were breastfed, but not exclusively, this year.

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