NICOSIA Cypriot women shrugged off social mores to take part in a public breast-feeding event yesterday as part of an international attempt to set a world record and to raise awareness of the health benefits to babies. Fifty-four mothers took part in the one-minute synchronised mass feeding in the Cypriot capital.

Argentina, Ukraine, Britain, India, Japan and Greece were among 24 countries taking part in events to mark the start of World Breast-feeding Week.

Mothers in the Philippines, left, were attempting to better the record of 22,000 women breast-feeding simultaneously that they set last year, for recognition by Guinness World Records.

Breast-feeding in public is a rare sight in Cyprus and mostly regarded as taboo. The event was hailed as “pioneering” by the Cypriot Health Minister, Costas Kadis, himself a new father. Elena, one of the participants and the mother of a five-month-old, Alexis, said: “I think this is a very positive effort and I would encourage all mothers to do it.”

According to the World Health Organisation, breast-feeding is the ideal way of providing infants with all the nutrients they need. (AFP)

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