Breastfeeding – Ever
This indicator reports the percentage of children under 6 years old who were ever breastfed or fed breast milk.
Source
Additional data analysis by CARES.
Source Description
The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) is a nationwide telephone interview survey, conducted every four years, designed to provide a broad range of information about children’s health and well-being. Survey topics include information about child and family demographics, children’s physical and mental health status, health insurance status and type of coverage, family health and activities, and perceptions of neighborhood characteristics. The NSCH is conducted through a random sample households across the United States. Of those households with children, one child is selected to be the subject of the interview. The final survey sample consists of over 90,000 households with children, with a minimum of 17,000 final interviews in each state. The NSCH is funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Surveys and sampling are overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Survey results are analyzed, summarized, and disseminated by the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health, a project of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI). Additional survey data files are available by request by contacting CAHMI.
For more information, including data collection methodology and definitions, please refer to the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health website.
Methodology
Indicator percentages are acquired from analysis of annual survey data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). NSCH survey responses pertain to children aged 0 to 5 (at the time of the survey), and are collected from the parent or guardian of the survey child [SC]. Indicator data are based on valid responses to the following question:
“Was [SC] ever breastfed or fed breast milk?”
This indicator represents the percentage of children who were reported to have ever been breast fed or fed breast milk. Additional detailed information about the NSCH, including questionnaires, data collection procedures, and data processing methodologies are available through the Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health, at childhealthdata.org.
Data Breakouts Available
- Children Ever Breastfed, Percent by Income Level
This indicator is available at the following subscription levels:
- Premium (currently viewing this indicator and report combination)