Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is recommended by international agencies as a way to limit childhood illness and early death. Now University of North Carolina researchers have found that a program integrating microcredit, cellphone messaging, and breastfeeding promotion can increase the number of women who exclusively breastfeed their infants. Led by Dr. Valerie L. Flax, research assistant professor of nutrition in the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, the study involved women from communities in the Bauchi State in northern Nigeria. The research was published online in The Journal of Nutrition.