ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2023: Statistics and Trends

3.2 Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life

UNICEF and WHO recommend that children initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. From the age of six months, children should begin eating safe and adequate complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed for up to two years of age and beyond. Exclusive breastfeeding is when a child receives nothing but breastmilk and thus no other foods or liquids are provided, including water. Exclusive breastfeeding is one of the WHA six global nutrition targets – expecting countries to increase exclusive breastfeeding to at least 50 percent by 2025. Exclusive breastfeeding has the single largest potential impact on child mortality of any preventive intervention and is a cornerstone of child survival and child health because it provides essential, irreplaceable nutrition for a child’s growth and development. It serves as a child’s first immunization and also has a protective effect against obesity and certain NCDs later in life.

The region has a higher prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (52.9 percent), which is higher than the world prevalence (47.7 percent). The Asia and the Pacific region as a whole has made progress on this indicator, with the prevalence showing increases from 2012 to 2021. Of the subregions, Southern Asia (with the highest prevalence), Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) and South-eastern Asia are likely to achieve the WHA target of at least 50 percent prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding, while Eastern Asia needs to exert extra efforts to meet this WHA target by 2025 (Table 12 and Figure 20). Among the 29 countries for which data are available, 19 are currently above the WHA target: seven in Southern Asia, five in South-eastern Asia and in Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), and two in Eastern Asia (Figure 21).