Loving Suppoort Bresafeeding and Obesity Project

New Mexico was one of four states to receive the Using Loving Support to Create a Breastfeeding-friendly Community training, which was held February 28 and March 1, 2006 in Albuquerque. The CDC-sponsored training was designed to address the relationship between breastfeeding and healthier weight. Planning Committee members included representatives from La Leche League, the NM Breastfeeding Task Force, and the NM Department of Health's Physical Activity & Nutrition Program for Healthier Weight and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.

The purpose of the training was to assist partners in developing a community-based breastfeeding promotion project in support of the draft New Mexico Plan to Promote Healthier Weight: 2006 - 2015. Using Loving Support© to Build a Breastfeeding-Friendly Community is a community-based effort to provide the loving support that new mothers need with breastfeeding while protecting against childhood overweight, related chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and improving immune systems.

An expert team from Best Start Social Marketing and the Academy for Educational Development provided the unique training program with creative, successful strategies for improving support for new mothers and an inspiring look at the comprehensive Loving Support© programs being implemented across the country that are resulting in dramatic increases in breastfeeding rates.

The training team will continue providing support and assistance in developing a community-based plan for Grants, New Mexico and the health care facilities and insurers that serve Grants and the entire state, as the initial project. A Steering Committee made up of training participants will guide the plan's development