Director of Health Promotion and Protection in the Ministry of Health, Dr Eva Lewis Fuller, is appealing to mothers to give their newborns breast milk only, for the first six months of life, to reduce babies' risk for gastro-enteritis and other illnesses.

Fuller's advice comes as the Ministry experiences an increase in the number of cases of gastro-enteritis among children under five years old.

"Babies that are breastfed have less diarrhoeal episodes and illnesses in the first year of life. This is because breast milk is custom made for babies and has all the right nutrients, minerals and antibodies a baby needs in the first six months of life," Fuller says. 'breastfeeding should be continued after six months but the child should also be given other foods such as porridge, crushed vegetables, fruits, meat and other foods."

These foods should be gradually increased until the child starts feeding from the family pot.

Fuller is also advising mothers and caregivers to reduce the spread of gastro-enteritis among children by encouraging and practising frequent hand washing with soap and water. "Wash hands after using the toilet, before preparing food and drink and before breastfeeding or handling small children. Even the hands of young children must be washed often with soap and water," Fuller says.

Fuller is urging parents and caregivers to seek immediate medical attention if they notice any of these warning signs in young children: dry mouth, increased thirst, loss of appetite, passing little or no urine, sunken moles, skin stand up when pinched, and general weakness.