Breastfeeding Trends by Race/Ethnicity Among US Children Born From 2009 to 2015 | Breastfeeding | JAMA Pediatrics | JAMA Network

Breastfeeding Trends by Race/Ethnicity Among US Children Born From 2009 to 2015 | Breastfeeding | JAMA Pediatrics | JAMA Network

Breastfeeding Rates Increase, But Gap Widens Between Black and White Infants

Between 2009-2015, breastfeeding rates increased among infants in all racial/ ethnic groups in the US. Overall, initiation of breastfeeding increased from 76.1% to 83.2%, exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months increased from 15.7% to 24.9%, and continuation of breastfeeding for 12 months increased from 24.6% to 35.9%.

Differences in breastfeeding rates between Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian or Alaskan Native and white infants narrowed from 2009 to 2015. The gap between black and white infants, however, widened during that time. Read more in this October 2019 journal article.

Another article indicates that differences between black and white infants at ages 3 and 6 months, whether they had been breastfed any or exclusively, are caused, in part, by racial/ethnic differences in breastfeeding initiation. Both articles indicate interventions that help black mothers initiate and continue breastfeeding may be important to closing the black-white gap.