手機(jī)版
Lucy Rock
The Observer, Sunday 9 October 2011
2011年10月9日 星期天
The government is urged to act on new research that shows the importance of a baby's early weeks to success in later life.
政府鼓勵(lì)在新研究上下功夫，該研究表明嬰兒最初幾周在其將來(lái)人生中取得成功起重要作用。
Encouraging disadvantaged mothers to breastfeed should be a key part of the government's plan for improving social mobility, according to leading academics and health experts.
據(jù)知名學(xué)者和健康專(zhuān)家說(shuō)，鼓勵(lì)弱勢(shì)母親用母乳喂養(yǎng)嬰兒應(yīng)該是政府計(jì)劃為提高社會(huì)流動(dòng)性的一個(gè)重要環(huán)節(jié)。
Their demand comes as research into the effects of breastfeeding, to be presented at a conference in London this week, shows that it can boost children's IQ and health and reduces the chances of behavioural and weight problems.
他們的要求在母乳喂養(yǎng)研究中生效，該要求是本周在倫敦召開(kāi)的一次會(huì)議上提出的，研究表明母乳喂養(yǎng)能提高兒童智商、增進(jìn)健康、減少患行為缺失和體重問(wèn)題的幾率。
The coalition's social mobility strategy aims to ensure "everyone has a fair opportunity to fulfil their potential, regardless of the circumstances of their birth". A commission established to oversee the strategy has devised a list of key indicators by which social mobility can be measured, enabling the government to see where intervention could make the most impact.
聯(lián)盟的社會(huì)流動(dòng)性策略目標(biāo)是確保“每個(gè)人都有機(jī)會(huì)展示他們的潛能，不管他們的出身情況如何。”監(jiān)督該策略的委員會(huì)已制定了一份可用來(lái)衡量社會(huì)流動(dòng)性的關(guān)鍵指標(biāo)的列表，以確保政府能看到干預(yù)帶來(lái)的巨大影響。
Researchers at the University of Essex's Institute of Social & Economic Research and the University of Oxford have spent the past two years looking at the impact of breastfeeding, excluding other factors such as social class, home environment and parents' education.
來(lái)自埃塞克斯大學(xué)的社會(huì)與經(jīng)濟(jì)研究所和牛津大學(xué)的研究人員，已經(jīng)花了兩年時(shí)間調(diào)查母乳喂養(yǎng)的影響，其他因素除外，如社會(huì)階層、家庭環(huán)境以及父母受教育程度。
A policy document based on this research and other studies in the fields of epidemiology and public health, to be discussed at the conference hosted by the institute at the British Academy on Wednesday, says: "Aligning breastfeeding with social mobility may seem tenuous, but a body of recent research shows that an individual's behavioural and psycho-social outcomes have a significant impact on adult earnings and education. Differences in children's cognitive development emerge at early ages, and the importance of timely parental investments is increasingly recognised as a major factor in fostering child development.
一份基于這項(xiàng)研究和在流行病學(xué)及公共衛(wèi)生領(lǐng)域研究的政策性文件，上周三在由英國(guó)科學(xué)院的研究所主辦的會(huì)議上被討論，文件上說(shuō)“用母乳喂養(yǎng)來(lái)調(diào)整社會(huì)流動(dòng)性看起來(lái)很脆弱，但是近期的一項(xiàng)研究表明，個(gè)人行為和社會(huì)心理的結(jié)果對(duì)一個(gè)人的收入和教育上有很大影響。在兒童早期的認(rèn)知發(fā)展過(guò)程中會(huì)出現(xiàn)差別，父母及時(shí)投資很重要，這也正越來(lái)越被認(rèn)為是促進(jìn)兒童發(fā)展的一個(gè)重要因素。”
"If research can demonstrate the extent to which positive outcomes are the result of breastfeeding, rather than arising from social factors, then there is a strong case for supporting and encouraging breastfeeding as an early intervention policy that can improve a child's life chances, particularly targeting young and disadvantaged mothers."
“如果研究能證明母乳喂養(yǎng)帶來(lái)的積極成果能達(dá)到的程度，不是社會(huì)因素引起的，那么，母乳喂養(yǎng)做為能提高兒童（特別是針對(duì)年輕和弱勢(shì)的母親）生活機(jī)會(huì)的早期干預(yù)政策，就有了一個(gè)強(qiáng)有力的支持和鼓勵(lì)。”
The research, which will be presented at the conference, shows there are many positive effects of breastfeeding: it reduces the likelihood of a child having behavioural problems at age five – 6% of full-term babies breastfed for four months have these issues compared with 16% of formula-fed babies; it increases the IQ of children breastfed for four weeks or more by around three points; it reduces the chances of a baby needing hospital treatment for diarrhoea or lower respiratory tract infections. Currently there is a large social gap in breastfeeding rates, with the most privileged mothers being several times more likely to breastfeed than the least privileged, according to the policy document.
會(huì)議上將要提出的研究表明，母乳喂養(yǎng)有很多積極的影響：降低了兒童在5歲時(shí)患行為問(wèn)題的可能性 - 與16%用配方奶喂養(yǎng)的嬰兒相比較，用母乳喂養(yǎng)的足月嬰兒四個(gè)月大時(shí)只有6%有這些問(wèn)題；母乳喂養(yǎng)三周或三周以上大概在三個(gè)方面提高了嬰兒的智商；降低了嬰兒需要住院治療腹瀉或下呼吸道感染的幾率。目前，在母乳喂養(yǎng)率上有很大的社會(huì)差異，根據(jù)政策文件，最具特權(quán)的母親比最不具特權(quán)的母親用母乳喂養(yǎng)的可能性大好幾倍。
Dr Emilia Del Bono, an economist at the ISER, said: "There seems to be evidence of benefits of breastfeeding in relation not just to health – which are already widely known – but also, and perhaps more controversially, in the cognitive, emotional and behavioural domains. There is a strong argument that the government should include breastfeeding on its list of social mobility indicators."
ISER 的一名經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家 Emilia Del Bono 博士說(shuō)：“似乎有證據(jù)顯示母乳喂養(yǎng)不僅對(duì)健康有好處，這一點(diǎn)已經(jīng)被廣泛認(rèn)同，而且對(duì)認(rèn)知、情感和行為領(lǐng)域也有好處，在這方面可能更具爭(zhēng)議。”
The social mobility and child poverty commission's list of indicators of success in improving social mobility for each life stage includes birth weight, results at key stage 2 , GCSE and A-level, and participation in education or training between the ages of 18 and 24.
社會(huì)流動(dòng)性與兒童貧窮委員會(huì)的指標(biāo)列表結(jié)果在關(guān)鍵階段2、GCSE和A級(jí)，該指標(biāo)成功為每個(gè)生命階段提高了包括出生體重在內(nèi)的社會(huì)流動(dòng)性，并參與18到24歲年齡段的教育和培訓(xùn)。
Del Bono said: "There are quite a lot of established indicators on the list, for example performance at 'key stage 1 and 2', but few in terms of inequalities in health or health behaviours apart from birth weight.
Del Bono 說(shuō)：“列表中有相當(dāng)多的既定指標(biāo)，如在'關(guān)鍵階段1和2’的表現(xiàn)，但是，除了出生體重以外，很少在健康或健康行為方面失衡。”
"We know that health inequalities at the early stages translate into inequalities in terms of achievement later in life. If you want to talk about social mobility and early stages intervention, you have to look at the health side very closely."
“我們知道，幼年階段的健康失衡會(huì)導(dǎo)致后來(lái)的成就失衡。如果你想討論社會(huì)流動(dòng)性和早期階段干預(yù)，你必須密切關(guān)注健康方面。”
However, the findings show that it could only be prolonged – more than four months – and exclusive breastfeeding that offers substantial benefits in the health and cognitive and behavioural development of a child.
然而，研究結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，純母乳喂養(yǎng)只能持續(xù)最多4個(gè)月，為兒童在健康、認(rèn)知和行為發(fā)展方面提供實(shí)實(shí)在在的好處。
Although millions have been spent on the promotion of breastfeeding in the past decade, Britain has one of the world's lowest rates of breastfeeding, with 35% of babies exclusively breastfed at one week old, 21% at six weeks, 7% at four months and 3% at six months. There has been much debate about the fact that some mothers who find it difficult to breastfeed are made to feel guilty for bottle-feeding.
盡管過(guò)去十年間有上百萬(wàn)人提倡母乳喂養(yǎng)，英國(guó)是世界上母乳喂養(yǎng)率最低的國(guó)家之一，一周大嬰兒純母乳喂養(yǎng)率為35%，六周大的21%，四個(gè)月大的7%，六個(gè)月大的3%。有些母親發(fā)現(xiàn)很難用母乳喂養(yǎng)，她們也為奶瓶喂養(yǎng)感到內(nèi)疚，現(xiàn)在有關(guān)事實(shí)真相還存在很多爭(zhēng)論。
Del Bono's research has found that mothers who receive good post-natal support in hospitals, following Unicef's "baby-friendly initiative" are 14.6% more likely to breastfeed and 6.6% more likely to continue to breastfeed exclusively four weeks after the birth. These effects are stronger for less educated and more economically disadvantaged mothers.
Del Bono 研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，根據(jù)聯(lián)合國(guó)兒童基金會(huì)的“愛(ài)嬰倡議”，在醫(yī)院得到好的產(chǎn)后護(hù)理的母親中，有14.6%更愿意用母乳喂養(yǎng)，還有6.6%愿意在嬰兒出生后持續(xù)用母乳喂養(yǎng)4周。這些效果在那些受教育程度低和經(jīng)濟(jì)來(lái)源弱勢(shì)的母親身上體現(xiàn)地更為強(qiáng)烈。
Del Bono added: "We need to see initiatives to support mothers not just to start breastfeeding, but to continue beyond the early days and weeks. Some policies that have been put in place, for example the promotion of breastfeeding in hospital, are good at encouraging mothers to breastfeed in the short term. But, in the long term, mothers need support and encouragement."
Del Bono 補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“我們需要行動(dòng)起來(lái)，支持母親們不僅在嬰兒出生時(shí)用母乳喂養(yǎng)，而且要持續(xù)喂養(yǎng)超過(guò)幾天甚至幾周。一些已經(jīng)落實(shí)到位的政策鼓勵(lì)母親們?cè)诙唐趦?nèi)用母乳喂養(yǎng)很有效，例如在醫(yī)院鼓勵(lì)母乳喂養(yǎng)。”
"It's clear already that breastfeeding provides more benefits the longer you do it. But in fact, we know very little about the effects of breastfeeding at long durations, because so few women breastfeed for more than a few weeks. It's only when more women start breastfeeding for longer periods that we will have the data necessary to investigate these effects."
“很明顯，母乳喂養(yǎng)時(shí)間越長(zhǎng)好處越多。但實(shí)際上，在很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間內(nèi)我們對(duì)母乳喂養(yǎng)的影響知之甚少，因?yàn)楹苌儆心赣H用母乳喂養(yǎng)超過(guò)幾周的。只有當(dāng)越來(lái)越多的母親開(kāi)始用母乳長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的喂養(yǎng)，我們才有足夠的數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)研究這些影響。”
A senior Liberal Democrat source said: "We expect the social mobility and child poverty commission to report on the progress of the indicators and to tell us whether they are the right ones. The current list is a good start but it does not have to be the final word."
一位資深的自由民主黨員說(shuō)“我們期待社會(huì)流動(dòng)性和兒童貧困委員會(huì)報(bào)告指標(biāo)的進(jìn)展，并告訴我們他們是否正確。目前的列表是一個(gè)好的開(kāi)始，但還沒(méi)有一錘定音。”
相關(guān)閱讀：母乳喂養(yǎng)的最大受益者是母親,其次才是嬰兒
