HRh princess srirasmi, the Royal Consort of HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, visits Wat Phosri in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday to inspect the progress of the ‘Sai Yai Rak Jak Mae Su Luk’ (Love and Care From Mother to Children) project. The campaign wa

The Princess also visited the homes of seven of the families.

The project is being conducted in four provinces with 378 families participating: 127 in Bangkok, 141 in Nakhon Ratchasima, 56 in Chiang Mai and 54 in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

About 800,000 babies are born in Thailand each year and they need their mothers' milk to grow both cerebrally as well as physically, Pinij said. He said that babies who are breast-fed continuously for nine months tend to have higher intelligence quotients (IQs).

Breast-feeding also strengthens mother-child bonds, boosting the child's emotional quotient, he said.

Pinij said the project was very useful, resulting in fewer children getting sick and family bonds becoming stronger.

The scheme encouraged new mothers to breast-feed their babies as long as possible, or for at least six months after birth, Pinij said.

A survey last year revealed that just 14.5 per cent of infants were breast-fed for six months, while only 20.7 per cent were breast-fed for four months, said public health permanent secretary Dr Prat Boonyawongwirot. This led to children having lower than world-average IQ scores.

He quoted a 2002 study as disclosing that Thai children aged between six and 12 had an average IQ of 88 and those aged between 13 and 18 years averaged 86.72.

In response, the ministry sent officials to visit new mothers to provide advice on breast-feeding, as well as equipping 16,000 nurseries with rooms for mothers to breast-feed their babies and for breast milk to be stored, said Prat.

The Nation

NAKHON RATCHASIMA