NEW! Data Products on Breastfeeding
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is pleased to announce the release of new data products on breastfeeding.
Canada’s “Breastfeeding Dashboard” is now available on PHAC’s Public Health Infobase platform. Along with this data tool, the first edition of Canada’s Breastfeeding Progress Report is available.
The data provides an overview of breastfeeding rates in Canada, including information on breastfeeding initiation, duration and exclusivity, examined by various geographic and sociodemographic factors. Reasons for not breastfeeding and reasons for stopping breastfeeding before 6 months are also presented, as are rates of vitamin D supplementation of breastfed infants.
The data is from the 2017-18 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), a national cross-sectional survey that includes a maternal experiences module asked to females aged 15 to 55 who had given birth in the five years prior to the survey.
The data indicates that, while most babies in Canada are breastfed initially, far fewer reach the goal of being exclusively breastfed to six months. The largest decline in breastfeeding occurred in the first month after birth, and there remain important differences in breastfeeding outcomes according to geographic and sociodemographic factors.
The breastfeeding dashboard and Progress Report can be found at: https://health-infobase.canada.ca/breastfeeding/. Future reports and updates are planned as new data becomes available, approximately every four years.
Questions related to the new materials can be directed to: dca_public_inquiries@phac-aspc.gc.ca