A simple, low-tech, and inexpensive solution to the problem of global childhood malnutrition exists, but it’s not being utilized.

Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life would do more to fight starvation and childhood malnutrition than anything else, New York Times writer Nicholas D. Kristof reports in his blog, yet the “miracle cure” is overlooked because of misconceptions about it.

“The biggest problem is that many mothers believe that breast milk isn’t enough, and that, on a hot day, a child needs water as well,” he writes from Niger. But too often local water is bad.

“The biggest problem is giving water or animal milk to babies, especially on hot days,” he writes. “Another is that mothers often doubt the value of colostrum, the first milk after childbirth (which is thick and yellowish and doesn’t look much like milk), and delay nursing for a day or two.”

To read the full “On the Ground” blog, Go Here Now.