Health professionals attending the annual UNICEF UK Baby Friendly conference in Bournemouth (18-19 Nov) will be told that breastfeeding protects against obesity in children and adults, according to the latest research.

And as the battle against obesity in the UK gathers apace, Baby Friendly Director Andrew Radford will call on the Government to honour its promise to ban all advertising of bottle feeding and formula milk in order to better promote breastfeeding - which, amongst many health benefits for both mother and child, appears to be effective in reducing levels of obesity in later life.

"The Government should be doing much more to promote breastfeeding if it really wants to tackle the rising levels of obesity in the British population," said Radford. "We know that trying to change people's eating habits is extremely difficult, while increasing levels of breastfeeding is relatively easy, particularly in Britain where breastfeeding levels remain shockingly low."

"We would urge the Government to put in place a total ban on the advertising of bottle feeding and formula milk, so that mothers have accurate and unbiased information - not promotion - in order to make a choice about how to feed their babies."

In 1981 the WHO/UNICEF International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes was adopted by the World Health Assembly. This Code bans all promotion of bottle feeding and sets out requirements for labelling and information on infant feeding.

The UK Government has voted every two years at an international level to support the Code, but has yet to fully implement it into UK law. Weak legislation adopted in 1995 left so many loopholes that the bottle feeding industry has found numerous ways to circumvent the law.

Although advertisements for infant formula on TV and in parents' magazines are theoretically illegal, a survey by the National Childbirth Trust found that 40% of mothers said they had seen them in the previous four weeks. This is because manufacturers are not prevented from advertising other products - bottles, teats, follow-up formula or their generic corporate branding, which is identical to the formula brand.

Radford added: "If the Government is considering banning advertisements for junk food for kids, it should first think about honouring its international obligation to support breastfeeding by banning all bottle feeding promotion."

Health professionals attending the annual Baby Friendly Conference will hear from one of the country's leading experts in the area of obesity and child nutrition.

Dr John Reilly, from the University of Glasgow Division of Developmental Medicine and Yorkhill Hospitals, Glasgow, will tell delegates how research indicates that babies who are breastfed are at a lower risk of obesity in later life, as well as being protected against other risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Other subjects being discussed at the conference include: bed-sharing and co-sleeping, breastfeeding and breast cancer, baby-led weaning and the optimum time for exclusive breastfeeding.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact: Sarah Vincent at the UNICEF UK Press Office on 07958 058106.