Toronto has record-setting breasts.

Keeping residents abreast of the situation, Toronto Public Health announced yesterday that Hogtown was first in the world for having the most children breastfeeding at one time.

The record was set on Oct. 3 when 190 moms and 191 hungry kids gathered for a breastfeeding event at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts.

372 MOMS

Those moms weren't alone. Around 182 moms and their babes participated online, pushing up Toronto's total to 372 mothers -- and 373 babies -- breastfeeding at the same time.

The Toronto event was organized by Public Health and the Chinese-Vietnamese Breastfeeding Network as part of World Breastfeeding Week in Canada.

Public Health's healthy families manager So-Yon Seto said it is the first time in Toronto's five years of participating that the city has beat all challengers.

SAVES LIVES

Other Canadian cities that participated included Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax.

Montreal cancelled its event due to H1N1 concerns, Seto said.

Aside from providing a snack for the kids, the challenge reinforced the week's theme that breastfeeding saves lives.

"We would like to promote that breastfeeding is the optimal way of feeding our babies and our children," Seto said.

According to health officials, breastfeeding reduces a child's risk of obesity and diabetes along with the mother's risk of cancer.

DON.PEAT@SUNMEDIA.CA