By SHAUN WOOLLER HEALTH EDITOR
Breastfeeding rates for young babies have reached a record high with over half of new mothers continuing to nurse at six to eight weeks, figures show.
Some 52.7 per cent were still breastfeeding their infant at this stage in 2023/24 - the highest since comparable records began in 2015/16.
This is up from 49.2 per cent in 2022/23 and 48.0 per cent in 2019, according to the government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
But England fares worse than other nations, with 71 per cent of children globally still being breastfed at one year old.
Health officials say breastfeeding provides the ‘best possible nutritional start in life for a baby’, protecting them from infection and offering important health benefits for the mother.
The government’s advice is that infants should be exclusively breastfed, receiving only breastmilk for the first 6 months of life (file image)
Breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests and are less likely to be overweight or obese later in life.
Women who breastfeed also have a reduced risk of cancer and type 2 diabetes.
The government’s advice is that infants should be exclusively breastfed, receiving only breastmilk for the first 6 months of life.
Following this, other drinks and foodstuffs can be introduced.
However, many women struggle to start or continue breastfeeding and others give up earlier than they would like because of a lack of appropriate facilities at work.
Of the 72 local authorities with valid data for 2023/24 and 2022/23, 46 significantly increased their breastfeeding rates, 26 were stable and none significantly decreased over this period.
However, there is wide variation across England, ranging from 27.6 per cent in Halton to 81.2 per cent in Hertfordshire.
Mothers living in affluent areas remain more likely to breastfeed than mothers living in more deprived areas.
But the gap between the most and least deprived areas has decreased from 15.8 per centre points to 10.7 percentage points over the past year.
Most deprivation groups have seen an increase year on year apart from the most affluent areas, which have seen a marginal decrease.
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