CDC Report Shows Increase in Breastfeeding, but Room for Improvement

More U.S. women are breastfeeding than a decade ago, but the numbers are still relatively low,according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday. The overall increase in breastfeeding held true across almost all racial and ethnic groups.

The CDC report went on to note that while the increase in mothers who choose to breastfeed their infants is good, many are still not breastfeeding for long enough. The recommendation in most cases is a minimum of 12 months.

Here is some of the key information to have emerged from this new report on breastfeeding prevalence in the U.S.

* The report was compiled between 2000 and 2008. Over that eight-year span, breastfeeding increased by some 4 percent overall.

* The number of mothers who were still breastfeeding at the six-month mark jumped substantially, from 35 percent to 45 percent during the same time frame.

* Overall, as MyHealthNewsDaily noted, by 2008 a full 74.6 percent of all mothers breastfed for various lengths of time.

* The director of the CDC, Tom Frieden, said that the fact that more than half of all mothers have stopped breastfeeding by the six-month mark means that "mothers that want to breastfeed are still not getting the support they need from hospitals, doctors, or employers," as quoted by MyHealthNewsDaily.

* At the 12-month mark, only 23 percent of women report still breastfeeding their infants.

* The CDC report made special note of the fact that African-American women have the lowest breastfeeding rate among U.S. women. While the gap between white women and black women who breastfeed did narrow between the eight years covered by the report, there is still a 16 percent difference in the number of white women who breastfeed versus the number of black women who do so.

* As HealthDay News noted, in 2008 nearly 59 percent of all African-American women breastfed their babies for various lengths of time, versus nearly 75 percent of all white women and nearly 80 percent of all Hispanic women.

* The American Academy of Pediatrics "reaffirmed" its recommendation regarding breastfeeding early last year. AAP guidelines state that a baby should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their life, and then given compatible foods along with the continuation of breastfeeding at least up until the baby has passed their first birthday.

* The AAP also states that given the known health benefits to the infant of breastfeeding, that doing so "should be considered an investment in the short- and long-term health of the infant, and not a lifestyle choice."

Vanessa Evans is a musician and freelance writer based in Michigan, with a lifelong interest in health and nutrition issues.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cdc-report-shows-increase-breastfeeding-room-improvement-231300472.html

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