Almost half of infants under six months not breastfed exclusively – GDHS

Data from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) has shown that almost half, 47.4 per cent of children aged zero to five months in Ghana were not exclusively breastfed in 2022. According to the GDHS, the percentage of children under six months not being exclusively breastfed had stagnated over the past two decades, increasing marginally by 0.8 percentage points between 2003 and 2022. A press release by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicated that breastfeeding in Ghana was near universal - 96.8 percent of children born in 2020, two years preceding the survey, had ever been breastfed. It said the initiation and duration of exclusive breastfeeding in Ghana fell short of the World Health Organisation's (WH0) recommendation for breastfeeding, which stated that 'children should initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life.' The release said in the Greater Accra, Ahafo and Eastern region, more than half of newborn children did not start breastfeeding within the first hour of life. The region with the lowest percentage, that did not initiate breastfeeding within the first hour was Bono East followed by Volta region. 'Nationally, the median duration for exclusive breastfeeding was 2.9 months, Western North Region had the shortest median duration for exclusive breastfeeding of one month followed by the Western 1.2 months and the Greater Accra 1.4 months,' it said. The release said half of the 16 regions had a median duration for exclusive breastfeeding of less than three months. The Savannah Region had the longest median duration for exclusive breastfeeding with 4.7 months followed by the Volta Region, 4.4 months. The World Breastfeeding Week is commemorated annually during the first week in August to highlight the importance of breastfeeding and to promote access to breastfeeding support and opportunities. The theme for 2024 is 'Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for all.' Source: Ghana News Agency