Half of Ghanaian babies not exclusively breastfed – GSS
Published:
2 months ago
Source:
Ghanaian Times
Nearly half of infants under six monthsborn in Ghana are not being exclusively breastfed, the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has revealed. According to the report, exclusive breastfeeding has stagnated in the country over the past two decades with a marginal increase from 52 to 53 per cent between 2003 and 2022. This falls short of the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation to initiate babies to breast milk within the first hour of birth and sustain it solely for the first six months of life. It is also below the national target to achieve at least 70 percent of initiating breastmilk within the first hour of birth and exclusive breastfeeding for six months, respectively. The report disclosed that nationally, the average duration for exclusive breastfeeding was three months with the Western North, Western and Greater Accra regions being the lowest.
"Half of the 16 regions had an average duration of exclusive breastfeeding of less than three months.