According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), nearly 47.4% of infants aged 0 to 5 months in Ghana are not being exclusively breastfed.
The GSS, in a release marking World Breastfeeding Day on August 3, revealed that the rate of exclusive breastfeeding has stagnated over the past two decades, with only a marginal increase between 2003 and 2022.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life, with breastfeeding initiated within the first hour of birth.
However, the GDHS report indicates that this recommendation still needs to be met.
According to the survey, 41.8% of children born two years preceding the 2022 GDHS did not start breastfeeding within the first hour of life.
The report highlights regional disparities in breastfeeding practices.
The Greater Accra (56.2%), Ahafo (56.1%), and Eastern (51.7%) regions reported the highest percentages of infants who did not start breastfeeding within the recommended timeframe.
In contrast, the regions of Bono East (29.4%) and Volta (31.6%) had the lowest percentages.
The median duration for exclusive breastfeeding nationwide was found to be 2.9 months.
The Western North Region had the shortest median duration at one month, followed by the Western (1.2 months) and Greater Accra (1.4 months) regions.
The Savannah Region recorded the most extended median duration, at 4.7 months, followed by the Volta Region, at 4.4 months.
World Breastfeeding Week, observed annually in the first week of August, aims to emphasize the importance of breastfeeding and promote access to breastfeeding support.
The theme for 2024 is “Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All.”
