| Breast milk is widely
recognized to be the ideal form of nutrition for infants. Breastfed
infants are less susceptible to infectious diseases and are less
likely to suffer from diabetes; overweight and obesity; lymphoma,
leukemia, and Hodgkin’s disease, and asthma compared to children
who were not breastfed. In addition, rates of postneonatal mortality
(death between the first month and the end of the first year of
life) are lower among breastfed infants.1
Therefore, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that, with
few exceptions, all infants be fed with breast milk exclusively
for the first 6 months of life.
Overall, 72.3 percent of children aged 0-5 were ever
breastfed. This proportion varies by race and ethnicity: 77.3 percent
of Hispanic children, 74.9 percent of White children, and 72.6 percent
of multiracial children were ever breastfed, compared to 51.4 percent
of Black children. The highest rate of breastfeeding was found among
children of other races, of whom 80.5 percent were ever breastfed.
Of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years,
41.4 percent were breastfed for at least 6 months (or are still
breastfeeding). Again, this proportion varies by race and ethnicity.
Of White children, 44.1 percent were breastfed for at least 6 months,
compared to 42.8 percent of Hispanic children, 25.8 percent of Black
children, 43.6 percent of multiracial children, and 46.7 percent
of children of other races.
The likelihood of breastfeeding for 6 months also
appears to rise with family income. Among children with family incomes
below the poverty level, fewer than one-third (32.1 percent) are
breastfed for 6 months or more, compared to 36.7 percent of children
with family incomes between 100 and 199 percent of FPL. Of children
with family incomes between 200 and 399 percent of FPL, 43.3 percent
are breastfed for at least 6 months, as are 50.5 percent of children
with family incomes of 400 percent of FPL or more.
1 American Academy of Pediatrics,
Section on Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk.
Pediatrics 2005;115(2):496-506. |
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