First the good news: More American babies are breastfeeding every year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which just released its Breastfeeding Report Card 2012:
– 76.9% of infants start out life breastfeeding
– 47.2% were at least partially breastfed at 6 months (versus 34.2% in 2000)
– 25.5% were at least partially breastfed at their first birthday (versus 15.7% in 2000)
The statistics for exclusive breastfeeding show a similar encouraging trend:
– 36% of babies were exclusively breastfed through 3 months of age (vs. 30.5% in 2000)
– 16.3% were exclusively breastfed through 6 months (vs. 11.3 in 2000).
The bad news, such as it is, is that as a nation we have a long way to go. Ideally, all babies would be exclusively breastfed until at least 6 months of age, and we’re far from that ideal.
The percentage of exclusively breastfed babies in the 2012 report card does come close to the CDC’s Healthy People 2010 goals: 40% of babies exclusively breastfed at 3 months, and 17% at 6 months. But still…that means the majority of American babies aren’t enjoying breastfeeding’s many benefits.
The CDC has set more ambitious and hopefully achievable breastfeeding goals in Healthy People 2020:
2020 Target:
1) Ever breastfed: 81.9% (2012 report card: 76.9%)
2) Any breastfeeding:
At 6 months: 60.6% (2012: 47.2%)
At 1 year: 34.1% (2012: 25.5%)
3) Exclusive breastfeeding:
Through 3 months: 46.2% (2012: 36%)
Through 6 months: 25.5% (2012: 16.6%)
Next we’ll look at state-by-state breastfeeding data. Not surprisingly, there are some significant differences…