Local residents can participate in the World Breastfeeding Walk and Celebration at 10 a.m. Saturday in Spokane’s Riverfront Park.

Participates will gather at the park’s Red Wagon for the walk, with a “latch on” event scheduled for 10:25 a.m.

The event is sponsored by the Breast Feeding Coalition of Spokane, with support from the Spokane Regional Health District. The walk is part of World Breastfeeding Week, and calls attention to the health benefits to babies and mothers from breastfeeding and ways that communities can support breastfeeding.

Breast milk is easy for infants to digest and it offers protection against bacterial and viral infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research indicates that women who breastfeed may have lower rates of certain breast and ovarian cancers.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommend that mothers breastfeed for a minimum of one year. In Washington state, only 88 percent of babies start out breastfeeding and just 60 percent are still being breastfed at 6 months. The ability for women to continue breast-feeding after they return to work appears to be a factor.