The Global Health Observatory

Explore a world of health data

Table
Indicator name:
Breastfeeding, ever breastfed
Short name:
Ever breastfed
Data type:
Percentage
Indicator Id:
7041
Topic:
Breastfeeding; infant and young child feeding
Rationale:
Breastfeeding is recommended for all infants worldwide except, in very few cases, for those with specific medical conditions. While the prevalence of ever breastfeeding is high in most countries, this is not the case universally. Particularly in high-income countries, this indicator is useful for assessing the overall acceptance of breastfeeding and for advocacy efforts.
Definition:
Percentage of children born in the last 24 months who were ever breastfed
Disaggregation:
Sex of child, place of residence, household wealth
Method of estimation:
Numerator: children born in the last 24 months who were ever breastfed Denominator: children born in the last 24 months For more information, please consult Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices: definitions and measurement methods. Geneva: World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2021. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240018389
Method of estimation of global and regional aggregates:
Population-weighted average
Preferred data sources:
Household surveys
Unit of Measure:
Children born in the last 24 months
Contact person email:
data@unicef.org
Name:
UNICEF Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring
IMRID:
7041
Indicator Metadata Registry List
If you have any feedback, you are welcome to write it here.
If you need to access the old Global Health Observatory data, you can do it here. But before you leave, please provide us your feedback about our new data portal.