Progress
In the developing world, progress in exclusive breastfeeding has been modest, from 33 per cent around 1995 to 38 per cent around 2008, a relative increase of about 16 per cent. Nonetheless, over the past 10 to 15 years rates have increased in all regions with available trend data except the Middle East and North Africa, and many countries have achieved substantial improvements. The Central and Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) region has made particularly noteworthy progress.
Exclusive breastfeeding rates have increased in most regions
Trends in the percentage of infants under the age of six months who are exclusively breastfed, around 1995 and around 2008
* Excluding China, due to lack of data.
Note: Analysis based on a subset of 86 countries with trend data, covering 84 per cent of births in the developing world. Latin America and Caribbean were excluded due to insufficient data coverage. Regional trends indicate an increase from 26 to 46 per cent, excluding Brazil and Mexico.
Source: UNICEF global databases 2010, from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) and other national surveys.
Evidence from a variety of countries indicates that marked improvements in exclusive breastfeeding are often associated with effective regulatory frameworks and guidelines, and when comprehensive programmatic approaches are at scale. Over the past 5–10 years, for example, 19 countries have recorded gains of 20 percentage points or more in exclusive breastfeeding rates. The implementa¬tion of large-scale programmes in these countries was based on national policies and often guided by the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding, a joint action of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, which promotes the adoption and implementation of national legislation on the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and maternity protection for working women. Further actions included ensuring that breastfeeding was initiated in maternity facilities (and that no infant formula was used), building health-worker capacity to offer counselling on infant and young child feeding, and mother-to-mother support groups in the community, accompanied by communication strategies to promote breastfeeding, using multiple channels and messages tailored to the local context.
19 countries throughout the developing world increased exclusive breastfeeding rates by 20 percentage points or more
Percentage of infants under the age of six months who are exclusively breastfed
References
WHO/UNICEF, Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding, WHO, Geneva, 2003.
UNICEF and Academy for Educational Development (AED), Infant and Young Child Feeding Programme Review: Consolidated report of six-country programme review, UNICEF, New York, 2010.
WHO, UNICEF, AED and United States Agency for International Development, Learning from Large-scale Community-based Programmes to Improve Breastfeeding Practices, Report of 10-country case study, WHO, Geneva, 2008.