_{Emir Castaneda, Health Educator at the Corozal Community Hospital}

By Charles Gladden

COROZAL, Tues. Aug. 5, 2025

Various hospitals throughout Belize will be engaging in activities to raise awareness of breastfeeding, as part of what is internationally recognized as World Breastfeeding Week, which is being observed by over 120 countries from August 1 to August 7, under the theme “Prioritize Breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Support Systems.”

Approximately 33.2% of women in Belize are exclusively breastfeeding their infants, according to the country’s MIX Report 2025, said Emir Castaneda, Health Educator at the Corozal Community Hospital.

“The data is suggesting that there could be an increase in this breastfeeding rate. It’s a plus for us, right to the country; that means we have been doing a lot regarding education on the benefits of breastfeeding,” he said. “What we speak here is about exclusive breastfeeding, not breastfeeding from birth to six months, which, if we do that, exclusive breastfeeding, then our babies are more protected than if we give them other options,” Castaneda further mentioned.

Throughout the week, staff members of the Corozal Community Hospital will be participating in an education campaign that will involve visits to various clinics, where they will be educating patients on breastfeeding.

An outreach program that will use sports to educate kids and men about breastfeeding, will also be conducted in the weeks ahead in neighboring villages in the district.

Castaneda also highlighted the threats posed by the increasing number of cases of kidney disease, as a 2018 study revealed that 13.7% of the Belizean population, between the ages of 22 and 55 years old, are suffering from this disease, which is notably affecting a significant number of manual workers.

“This is a new emerging disease in the Central American region, and the risk factors are not diabetes and hypertension anymore, but it has to do with the hard workers, the construction workers, the cane farmers who are under the heat for a long time and working hard. They are dehydrated because they want to earn their living, so they’re working long hours, and sometimes they don’t rest. So, these are the factors that, if they continue to work like this, will lead to chronic kidney disease of non-traditional origin,” he mentioned.

Drinking large amounts of water is recommended to prevent kidney disease.