SBUMC Helps Long Island Child Care Agencies Achieve NY State Department of Health Breastfeeding-Friendly Designation

Medical Center & Health Care

SBUMC Helps Long Island Child Care Agencies Achieve NY State Department of Health Breastfeeding-Friendly Designation
Long Island Center for Pediatric Obesity Prevention Continues to Promote Child Nutrition

STONY BROOK, N.Y., February 4, 2011 - Stony Brook University Medical Center’s Long Island Center for Pediatric Obesity 



At Alternatives for Children, one of the 15 child care agencies on Long Island that has attained a N.Y. State Department of Health breastfeeding-friendly designation due to the efforts of Stony Brook University Medical Center’s Long Island Center for Pediatric Obesity Prevention, mothers are educated on breastfeeding practices. Leah Holbrook. M.S., R.D., Coordinator of the program (center), consults the moms with their babies. Also pictured, from left: Rose Noonan Dusek and her son, Kaiden Dusek; and Amy Goldstein, and her daughter, Rachel Goldstein. 

Prevention has aided 15 child care agencies on Long Island achieve the goal of attaining a New York State Department of Health (DOH) breastfeeding-friendly designation. Prior to the program’s work with the agencies, no Long Island child care centers had received the designation.On January 20, 2011, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina M. Benjamin issued a “Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding.”  The initiative outlines steps that can be taken to remove some of the obstacles faced by women who want to breast feed their babies. The “Call to Action” highlights the importance of breastfeeding and seeks to increase its practice. It also cites that breastfeeding protects babies from infections and illnesses that include diarrhea, ear infections, and pneumonia. Breastfed babies are also less likely to develop asthma, and those who are breastfed for six months are less likely to become obese.“Having babies breastfeed early on puts babies in the ‘driver’s seat,’ as they can then essentially choose how much they eat,” says Leah Holbrook. M.S., R.D., Coordinator of the Center and a nutritionist in the ...

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