Giving Compass' Take:

• Unfortunately, fewer mothers in China are breastfeeding around the world, despite the negative effects of depending on baby formula. 

• How can global development organizations and philanthropists work to address this issue? 

• Read about global disparities in global breastfeeding rates. 

China may be a world leader in solar installations, general manufacturing, and overall purchasing power but in another way, too much reliance on modernization is costing it dearly: Not enough mothers are breast feeding anymore.

Just 21% of kids under six months old in the country are being reared exclusively on their mother’s milk, according a recent analysis by Alive & Thrive, a global nonprofit for nutritional health.

That’s a problem because not all formulas are good approximates, especially in places with loose label policing. In 2008, 300,000 Chinese babies got sick from tainted formula that contained an unsafe industrial additive called melamine; many developed kidney stones.

On the flip side, breastfeeding might make many children more healthy. Mother’s milk carries antibodies that can battle bacteria and viruses, protecting against issues like diarrhea and pneumonia, either of which can be life threatening for babies. Overall, studies show better outcomes for children who were breastfed longer.

Read the full article about breastfeeding by Ben Paynter at Fast Company