Despite proven benefits, less than half of infants and young children globally are breastfed in accordance with the recommendations of WHO.

This Series paper examines how mother and baby attributes at the individual level interact with breastfeeding determinants at other levels, how these interactions drive breastfeeding outcomes, and what policies and interventions are necessary to achieve optimal breastfeeding. 

Despite increasing evidence about the value and importance of breastfeeding, less than half of the world's infants and young children (aged 0–36 months) are breastfed as recommended. This Series paper examines the social, political, and economic reasons for this problem.

In August 2022, UNICEF, WHO, Irish Aid and Alive & Thrive's offices in West Africa and Southeast Asia collabor

During the COVID-19 pandemic, policy makers and practitioners must learn from mistakes made during the HIV pandemic, when breastfeeding was undermined through isolating infants from their mothers, and formula feeding resulted in more infant deaths than the disease.

Mothers in the rural Boucle de Mouhoun Region of Burkina Faso had low levels of knowledge of IYCF and practices, according to this study: 60% of children had the minimum meal frequency, while only 18% benefited from the minimum dietary diversity and 13% received minimum acceptable diet.