by Adam Spangler
February 15, 2010

New York Governor David A. Paterson announced last week that $6.98 million awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will “fund policy, system and environmental changes to improve nutrition, increase physical activity and cut tobacco use in New York.” Only five initiatives are part of the new wellness funding, and one of them is breastfeeding.

Increase physical activity at elementary schools; educate the public about high-calorie foods; decrease tobacco use through advertising and free cessation service—all pretty typical point sources to improve health. But there is one more on the list: “Improve support to new mothers to promote breastfeeding, especially exclusive breastfeeding.”

Along with the otherwise typical list of healthy objectives, breastfeeding stands out—exclusive breastfeeding, no less. In the press release announcing the new funding, New York State says that “Breastfeeding has been shown to promote optimal infant growth, protect infants from infections, and reduce obesity in both mother and infant.” As part of this initiative, the State’s Department of Health will provide training and technical assistance on policies and practices to hospitals that provide maternity care and to programs serving low-income mothers.

Breastfeeding has long been recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a strategy for obesity prevention, with states across the country supporting breastfeeding in one form or another. But to support it under the banner of general health and wellness programs, along with obesity prevention and smoking cessation, is a major shift in the perceived part breastfeeding plays in the health of both baby and mother.

What does the shift mean exactly? According to New York State, breastfeeding is considered important, very important, and the state believes it to be in your best interest to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of your baby’s life.

So it’s not just the hippie mom with the tie-dyed baby sling (or choose your favorite overzealous advocate) telling you it’s important—it’s the state of New York. With government not only accepting breastfeeding’s place in the hierarchy of health but advocating it so directly, it could be a new dawn for new and expectant mothers who are now being asked to breastfeed for the health of it!