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Our vision is a world where every child has an optimum start in life through the benefits of breastmilk.
Good nutrition in the 1,000 days between conception and a child’s second birthday lays the foundation for a healthy future.
Breastfeeding is the single most effective intervention to improve a baby’s health and chance for a better life. Yet despite decades of investment, breastfeeding rates are still frustratingly low: millions of women and families worldwide don’t have the support they need to provide breastmilk to their children.
The Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation (FLRF), established in Switzerland in 2013, is an independent philanthropic organization revitalizing the journey from science to impact. We take a unique approach: our priority is to increase breastfeeding rates worldwide, so our focus is on helping build innovative, efficient pathways to get there. Our team supports and collaborates with researchers, policymakers, practitioners, government leaders and partner organizations working to ensure every child has an optimum start in life through the benefits of breastmilk.
Olle and Doris Larsson-Rosenquist were born in the late 1920s and raised in southern Sweden where they met and married. In 1955 the couple moved to Switzerland where their two sons Göran and Michael were born. The family settled comfortably in their new home country, becoming Swiss citizens in 1969.
In the early 1960s Olle Larsson started a trade business, importing Swedish products to Switzerland under the name of Medela. Over the years, Medela progressed into a medical technology company. Under the roof of Olle Larsson Holding AG, further companies and a real estate portfolio were added.
Through the work in their Medela business catering to breastfeeding mothers, the Larsson family – and in particular Michael – realized that there was no ambassador for breastfeeding research anywhere in the world. They took on this role to give breastfeeding a voice. To back this voice with a permanent organization, they decided to set up a permanent foundation dedicated exclusively to breastfeeding and breastmilk.
In 2013, Michael and Göran, together with their father Olle Larsson and in honor of their mother Doris, founded the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation with the simple but bold vision: “A world where every child has the best start in life through breastmilk”.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for ending hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 20301. The world will not meet this ambitious goal without prioritizing good nutrition for women and children during the 1,000 days from conception until a child turns two years old. Breastmilk is a necessary building block in this critical 1,000-day window to ensure children can reach their full potential. Yet despite being the single most effective intervention to improve a baby’s health and chance for a better life, breastfeeding rates are still stubbornly low, and millions of women and families worldwide don’t have the support they need to provide breastmilk to their children2.
Meanwhile, the evidence base demonstrating the substantial benefits of breastfeeding for women and children continues to grow. The health and economic benefits of breastfeeding are significant. Breastfeeding is one of the most cost-effective health and development interventions, with every dollar generating an estimated $35 back in economic returns3.
Increasing the rates of breastfeeding worldwide is a fundamental driver in achieving the SDGs by 2030. Breastfeeding plays a significant role in improving nutrition, education, and maternal and child health and survival4,5. Boosting breastfeeding rates can help bring the global target within reach and drive progress toward other health and development goals.
To that end, recognizing the importance of breastfeeding, Michael and Göran, together with their father Olle Larsson, founded FLRF in 2013 with the aim of providing long-term sustainable funding to strengthen the field of breastfeeding and ultimately improve breastfeeding rates in low resource settings, thus contributing to achieving the SDGs.
References
1UNICEF, WHO. The extension of the 2025 Maternal, Infant and Young Child nutrition targets to 2030. 2018.
2United Nations Children’s Fund, Division of Data Research and Policy. UNICEF Global Databases: Infant and Young Child Feeding, New York, 2018.
3Shekar, Meera, Jakub Kakietek, Julia Dayton Eberwein, and Dylan Walters. 2017. An Investment Framework for Nutrition: Reaching the Global Targets for Stunting, Anemia, Breastfeeding, and Wasting. Directions in Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-1010-7.
4Rollins, et al., Why invest, and what it will take to improve breastfeeding practices? Lancet 2016; 387: 491-504.
5Victora C. G. et al., Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect. Lancet 2016; 387: 475–90. 8.
