When it comes to the health and well-being of infants, the research is unequivocal: Exclusively breastfeeding babies for the first six months of life offers a host of health benefits, including lower risks of infant mortality, gastrointestinal problems, type 2 diabetes, and respiratory afflictions.

But in many countries, less than half of babies are breastfed exclusively during this period.  China is one of them.

According to China's Ministry of Health, only 30 percent of the country's mothers exclusively feed breast milk to their infants. The Ministry hopes to raise that to 50 percent by 2020.

Given the multiple tainted baby milk scandals that China has seen in recent years, this goal seems easily attainable among a public skeptical of commercial products. The scandals also make the current numbers seem unbelievable.

This made me wonder why Chinese mothers would rather import expensive foreign milk powder than adopt the natural option.

It then occurred to me that I hadn't seen many women breastfeeding in Beijing. Nursing a baby in the open is considered buwenming, uncivilized. While simply covering up with a cloth can prevent exposure of bare skin, many women feel pressure to keep nature's way of feeding infants out of public view, nursing mostly in the home.

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, which ended last Tuesday, 30 mothers gathered for a "Latch On" event publicly feeding their infants in a shopping mall in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Participants staged the event in hopes of seeing more private areas throughout cities where mothers can nurse their babies.

News coverage of the event cited figures showing that in Shanghai, less than 5 percent of office buildings are equipped with private areas for breastfeeding moms.  This results in many women staying home and forgoing normal public life, or having to choose a lesser option from the supermarket.

The Ministry of Health's 2020 goal reflects the gravity of the current research. The milk produced during pregnancy, ready for the baby upon delivery, is called "liquid gold" by pediatricians.

That first production of milk contains antibodies and essential nutrients that are tailor-made for newborns and their future immune systems. Babies who then continue nursing for six months ingest fuel that will make them healthier and stronger as they grow.

Society benefits from a healthy population. Fewer sick babies means lower healthcare costs and fewer parents missing work to care for an ill child. Most of all, more children would grow into healthier adults.

In order for more women to be able to exclusively provide breast milk exclusively for their infants, societies need to become more comfortable with the fact that babies need to be nursed. And that means providing places for mothers to do so is essential.

The other half of the work is education, both for mothers and for the wider public.

China's new position on the international stage makes it poised to set an example for the rest of the world.

In the West, new mothers are barraged with information from advertisements, books, doctors, and women who've been there, often receiving mixed messages. The ever-increasing number of baby formula products, eager to claim laboratory-perfected contents, continues to obscure the value of natural, old-fashioned breastfeeding.

Moreover, the challenges of nursing are sometimes unknown to a woman until her first birth. It can be painful, the baby may need more or less than is produced, and latching on can be trouble with some infants.  Many hospitals now have lactation specialists to help young mothers with the issue.

A widespread campaign that provides information on the benefits and challenges of nursing is essential in order to increase the practice and create a more nursing-friendly society.

New parents have more to worry about than the so-called indecency of nursing an infant outside the home. The benefits of exclusive breastfeeding are staggering compared to the risks of using formula.

Whether you're a parent, an economist, a physician, or an average member of society, you have reason to support a mother who stops to nurse rather than picking up a bottle.

The author is a copy editor with the Global Times. juliebertoni@globaltimes.com.cn