Mapping exclusive breastfeeding in Africa between 2000 and 2017

Abstract

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)—giving infants only breast-milk (and medications, oral rehydration salts and vitamins as needed) with no additional food or drink for their first six months of life—is one of the most effective strategies for preventing child mortality1–4. Despite these advantages, only 37% of infants under 6 months of age in Africa were exclusively breastfed in 20175, and the practice of EBF varies by population. Here, we present a fine-scale geospatial analysis of EBF prevalence and trends in 49 African countries from 2000–2017, providing policy-relevant administrative- and national-level estimates. Previous national-level analyses found that most countries will not meet the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of 50% EBF prevalence by 20256. Our analyses show that even fewer will achieve this ambition in all subnational areas. Our estimates provide the ability to visualize subnational EBF variability and identify populations in need of additional breastfeeding support.

Breastfeeding in the Community—How Can Partners/Fathers Help? A Systematic Review

“…To improve global breastfeeding rates, the World Health Organisation endorsed a set of Global Nutrition Targets (WHO GNT, including Goal-5), which aims to increase the global EBF rate to at least 50% by the year 2025 [11]. However, a recent study indicated that only three African countries (Guinea-Bissau, Rwanda, and São Tomé and Príncipe) are on track to meet the GNT for EBF [12].…”

Precision, Equity, and Public Health and Epidemiology Informatics – A Scoping Review

“…In terms of measurement, advances in methods such as spatial statistics have allowed highly accurate sub-regional mapping of population characteristics in global health research. For example, one method estimates the resolution of 5 km by 5 km cells for the African continent, HIV prevalence [16] and exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age [17]. In another study, the authors created similar high-resolution estimates of educational attainment across low and middle-income countries [18].…”

Interventions to Improve Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review  

“…Studies were included if they meet the following criteria: (i) experimental or quasi-experimental study design (including randomized controlled trials [RCT], non-RCTs, before and after studies, and interrupted time-series studies) with or without comparison groups or cluster; (ii) conducted among pregnant women and mothers living with live children under 2 years to improve IYCF practices; (iii) used any type of IYCF interventions delivered between the antenatal period and 24 months postpartum; (iv) measured at least one core IYCF indicators such as EIBF, EBF, the introduction of solid, semi-solid and soft foods, continued breastfeeding at one year, MDD, MMF, and minimum acceptable diet (MAD); (v) were published in the English language; and (vi) conducted in Ethiopia from the year 2000 to date. We considered studies published over this period to demonstrate the impacts of the speci c IYCF interventions in the context of Ethiopia to re ect the implementation of relevant global health programs, including the MDGs and the current SDGs [23].…”