The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just released the Breastfeeding Report Card - US 2011. The report card includes many process indicators of breastfeeding practices in each state. Washington, DC did not fare well. For example, the CDC reports the following for the District of Columbia:
- Percent of babies ever breastfed: 74.8
- Percent of babies breastfeeding at six months: 48.6
- Percent of babies breastfeeding at one year: 32.4
- Exclusive breastfeeding at three months: 34.8
- Exclusive breastfeeding at six months: 17.1
The World Health Organization recommends:
Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.
The District did not come close to meeting this goal, nor did it meet the objectives of the CDC's Healthy People 2020 Initiative. Furthermore, DC's child care regulations were rated "less than optimal" in terms of lactation support.
The news was not all bad, however. DC increased its scores from 2010 on all of the above indicators, except percent of babies ever breastfed.
The entire 2011 report card, as well as past report cards, can be view on the CDC's website.
What can Washingtonians do to continue to improve DC's score on the CDC's Breastfeeding Report Card? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.
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