Proportion of infants 0–5 months of age who are fed exclusively with breast milk

Maternal, newborn, child & adolescent health

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Indicator Metadata Registry List

Indicator name: 
 Exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months (%) 
Short name: 
 Exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months 
Data type: 
 Percent 
Indicator Id: 
 130 

                            Topic:
                        

                                Risk factors
                            

Rationale:

This indicator belong to a set of indicators whose purpose is to measure infant and young child feeding practices, policies and programmes. Infant and young child feeding practices directly affect the nutritional status and survival of children. Exclusive breastfeeding is the single most effective intervention to improve the survival of children. Improving infant and young child feeding practices is therefore critical to improved nutrition, health and development of children.

Definition:

Proportion of infants 0–5 months of age who are fed exclusively with breast milk.

Disaggregation:

Sex, Location (urban/rural), Boundaries : Administrative regions, Boundaries : Health regions

Method of measurement

Percentage of infants 0–5 months of age who are fed exclusively with breast milk = (Infants 0–5 months of age who received only breast milk during the previous day/Infants 0–5 months of age) x 100 . Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) include questions on liquids and foods given the previous day, and number of milk feeds the previous day, to learn if the child is being exclusively breastfed.

M&E Framework:

Outcome

Method of estimation:

WHO and UNICEF jointly collect data on infant and young child feeding, pooling information from national surveys. The WHO Programme of Nutrition, Physical Activity adn Obesity, at the Regional Office for Europe compiles country information on exclusive breastfeeding independently. Note, many developed country data refer to exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months, which provides lower estimates than the standard measure of exclusive breastfeeding averaged over the first six months. The two sources have been combined to display all available data on exclusive breastfeeding.

Preferred data sources:

Household surveys

Specific population surveys

Surveillance systems

Unit of Measure:

N/A

Expected frequency of data dissemination:

Continuous

Expected frequency of data collection:

Every 3-5 years

Links:

UNICEF global databases - Infant and Young Child Feeding

The WHO Global Data Bank on Infant and Young Child Feeding

Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices, Part I: Definitions (WHO, UNICEF, USAID, AED, UCDAVIS, IFPRI, 2008)