Breastfeeding in Brazil: major progress, but still a long way to go
Journal Title: Jornal de Pediatria - Year 2017, Vol 93, Issue 2
Abstract
The innovative and well-designed retrospective study by Oliveira et al. featured in this issue documents encouraging secular trends in breastfeeding duration in Rio de Janeiro during the 1960–2009 period. Study participants were staff from a university in the city of Rio de Janeiro interviewed between 1999 and 2012 who were asked to recall the breastfeeding duration of their first-born child.1 Median breastfeeding duration among women giving birth in the 2000–2009 period was 12 months, compared with six months among children born between 1960 and 1969, five months among those born between 1970–1979, six months among those born between 1980–1989 and eight months among those born between 1990 and 1999. Given how strikingly similar these findings are to secular breastfeeding trends previously reported for Brazil as a whole using repeated cross-sectional survey data,2,3 this commentary extrapolates implications from Oliveira's et al. study to the whole country.3 Data from national surveys and Oliveira et al.1 on one hand point to the major progress in breastfeeding outcomes in Brazil over the past four decades, as illustrated by dramatic national improvements, including an increase in breastfeeding duration from 2.5 months in 1975 to 11.3 months in 2008 and a 14-fold increase in the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding, which currently stands at 41% among infants under 6 months of age. These improvements correspond nicely with the timing of the launch of major breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support efforts and investments in the country.2 On the other hand, these studies indicate that the country still has a long way to go to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations that call for exclusive breastfeeding for six months and total duration of any breastfeeding of at least two years.
Authors and Affiliations
Rafael Pérez-Escamilla
Keywords
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- EP ID EP508677
- DOI 10.1016/j.jped.2016.10.003
- Views 63
- Downloads 0
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