Jamie Oliver Wants Mums To Breastfeed 'More' And 'Anywhere They Want'

But some mums aren't happy with his comments.

Jamie Oliver has revealed he wants to fight for a mum's right to "breastfeed anywhere".

After dedicating his time to campaigning for a sugar tax to be introduced, the dad-of-four said his new mission is to fix the "problem" Britain seems to have with breastfeeding.

"We need to support the women of Britain to breastfeed more, anywhere they want to," Oliver told LBC Radio.

"We have got a problem with it. And if you think about it, breastfeeding is the beginning of the story - before school dinners, before sugar. It's something that's very natural to us - it's easy, it's more convenient, it's more nutritious, it's better, it's free."

"Breastfeeding is the beginning of the story - before school dinners, before sugar."
Ben Pruchnie via Getty Images
"Breastfeeding is the beginning of the story - before school dinners, before sugar."

Oliver said tackling breastfeeding is just as important as the sugar tax for children's health in Britain, adding that they're very much related.

"When you care about child health you can't just look at one thing," he said.

"The sugary drinks tax is interesting purely because you are getting your hands on the horns of big business who are usually telling government what to do.

"But if you really care about it, it's really big, wide, diverse and things like breastfeeding are at the epicentre of the problem.

"Data from breastfeeding tracks into all sorts of things from stunting, to obesity, to ill-health. We have the worst breastfeeding in the world.

"The formula industry has a history of doing things in not such agreeable ways."

Female listeners of the radio interview weren't as pleased with Oliver's latest campaign as he'd hoped.

Rebecca, a mum from Hertford, said she didn't think a man was the best advocate for breastfeeding.

"It is not easy for every mother. I really struggled - I desperately wanted to, but I had to stop after six weeks.

"As somebody who has never done it, I don't think he should be the face of this campaign at all."

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Vicky, a mother from Thurrock, said according to the MailOnline: "There's too much pressure put on ladies to do it anyway. We get looked down on if we do not breastfeed from the off.

"I don't think I would want him telling me what I should and shouldn't do.

"If my husband ever tried to tell another woman what she should and shouldn't be doing, as a man, I think I'd give him a clip round the ear for her."

A poll of 2,393 mums conducted by Public Health England (PHE) in November 2015 found that more than a third of women "shy away" from breastfeeding in public.

One in five said they didn't breastfeed in public because they didn't think people wanted them to.

One in 10 of women who chose not to breastfeed said the worry of doing so in public influenced their decision.

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