KNX-AM, Los Angeles - Text Transcript

SG: I ask for your indulgence this morning because we are broadcasting from a new studio and you are my first interview this morning on this new digital equipment.

SG: Well wonderful, from Los Angeles? Well wonderful, happy to be with you.

SG: Dr. Carmona, you have a recommendation that breastfeeding should be done exclusively for the first six months of a baby's life. Tell us first of all about the new campaign that you're launching and about what the studies show about the benefits of breastfeeding.

SG: Happy to. Thank you for asking the question. We've declared this past year the Year of the Healthy Child to deal with all of those inputs that ensure children grow up healthy, safe, and strong. Part of that is exemplified this month with the National Breastfeeding Month. And breastfeeding is so, so important that we felt we needed to highlight the importance of it and increase the knowledge base, the health literacy of the American public. Not just moms, but we want dads and brothers and sisters and the workplace and society, in general, to realize how important breastfeeding is and how we as a society need to support it to ensure the health of our children. Breastfeeding in fact has a number of benefits to the mom and to the baby. First there's the bonding issue that moms and babies become closer. Second is the whole issue of growth and development. We have studies that show that babies who are breastfed have less diarrhea, less ear infections, less respiratory infections, and most importantly today, that babies who are breastfed have less of a tendency to become overweight or obese which is a big problem that is plaguing us today, the epidemic of childhood obesity. So for all of those reasons, it's important that we get the word out.

SG: What if the mother can't breastfeed or chooses not to, what should she do?

SG: Well I think that we recognize that there certainly are some issues that may prevent mothers from breastfeeding. Some of it is cultural and we understand that then the conversation should take place between the mom and her primary care provider. When there are medical issues, again they need to discuss those with the primary care provider. Our goal is to encourage all women who are able to breastfeed. Those that cannot there are options including using breast milk from others or saving breast milk in the case where there's a venue that's not suited for breastfeeding. But again we want to make sure that we do everything in society to encourage moms to breastfeed and to provide them, to accommodate them the space and time for them to breastfeed.

SG: You also have some tips on how mothers can keep their babies healthy and safe.

SG: Absolutely and on our Web site at surgeongeneral.gov as well as other Web sites like womenshealth.gov you'll find a lot of tips as to how to improve the health and safety and security of your baby. It really is age specific. Early on we want to make sure that babies are hooked up with a primary care provider right away, pediatrician, family medicine doctor, nurse practitioner depending on where you are, but somebody who's going to follow your child's growth and development. Make sure they're eating healthy. Make sure they're getting their immunizations. Making sure that moms' questions are being answered about safety issues, car seats, how to make your home safe as they become toddlers. Keeping things out of their reach that they tend to want to put in their mouths. So there are a lot of important tips that help to reduce any of the morbidity that is complications or preventable death in childhood from just taking some very simple steps in just protecting your child as they grow.

SG: Dr. Carmona, is there anything else you'd like to add?

SG: Well I thank you very much for this opportunity, as a single Surgeon General, it's tough to get this word out to the whole country. And many have said I have the biggest practice in the world with 300 million people in the United States. It's very important that the media and all of our partners work together to get this information out so that all moms and families and everyone else who's interested in the growth and development of our children are aware and that the end product is that we have healthier children.

Content last updated August 15, 2005.