How Can Global Rates of Exclusive Breastfeeding for the First 6 Months Be Enhanced?

Abstract

Optimal infant and young child feeding practices, especially exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, not only save lives of children younger than 5 years but also improve children’s quality of life. In spite of the proven benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for up to 6 months, and repeated emphasis on this critical intervention, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding among children younger than 6 months is a dismal 37% globally, and it has been stagnant since the 1990s. Globally, there is much interest in enhancing this practice to accelerate the progress on child survival, as the UN Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health calls for increasing numbers to 21.9 million infants who are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life, by 2015, in 49 least developed countries. This is a welcome step forward, but knowledge of how to increase exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months is either lacking or is inadequate among policy and program managers. This article identifies 7 strategies that could achieve increased rates of exclusive breastfeeding, provides guidance on prioritization, and explains why these require multisectoral and systematic action.