Monitoring the World Health Organization Global Target 2025 for Exclusive Breastfeeding: Experience From the United States.
Priya M Gupta, Cria G Perrine, Jian Chen and 2 others
PMID 28355120WHAT IT FOUND
In U.S. infants under 6 months, 24.4% were exclusively breastfed the previous day by a 24-hour recall.
This is a national monitoring estimate, not evidence that a clinical intervention works.
Key findings
01The final analysis included 358 infants younger than 6 months.
02Among infants younger than 6 months, 24.4% were exclusively breastfed the previous day, with a 95% confidence interval of 17.6% to 31.1%.
03Exclusive breastfeeding was defined as human milk being the only food or beverage consumed in the previous 24 hours.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 358 infants younger than 6 months were analysed, so the estimate is imprecise. The confidence interval was wide, from 17.6% to 31.1%, so small changes over time may be difficult to monitor. The analysis used only the first dietary recall day, consistent with the WHO method but limited to a 24-hour period. The paper is population surveillance, not a clinical trial, so it does not show that any breastfeeding intervention works. The comparison with other national breastfeeding estimates uses different data sources and age definitions, so it is not a direct estimate of change.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 24.4% estimate as evidence that a breastfeeding intervention works or that the WHO target has been met. It is a baseline population estimate from a small subsample with a wide confidence interval.