Continued Breastfeeding at 2 Years

WHO recommends that breastfeeding should be continued up to (or beyond) two years. Breastmilk is an excellent source of nutrients and supports children’s healthy growth and development. This indicator therefore measures the proportion of breastfed children up to the recommended age of two years.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with mothers of a representative sample of children aged 20–23 months:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

(ask the first question only if you did not collect the data in an earlier part of the questionnaire)

Q1: Can you please tell me the age of your youngest children?

A1:

1) the youngest child: .... (specify in months)

2) 2^nd youngest child: .... (specify in months; cross the answer if the respondent has one child only)

(ask the next question only about a child aged 20–23 months, if available)

Q2: Yesterday, did you breastfeed this girl/ boy during the day or night?

A2: yes / no

To calculate the indicator's value, divide the number of children aged 20–23 months who were breastfed during the previous day or night by the total number of children aged 20–23 months. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage. 

Disaggregate the data by gender.

1) This indicator relies on an accurate age assessment. Since people often do not remember the exact dates of their children’s birth, the data collectors should always verify the child’s age. This can be done by reviewing the child’s birth certificate, vaccination card or another document; however, since many caregivers do not have such documents (and since they can include mistakes), it is essential that your data collectors are able to verify the child’s age by using local events calendars. Read FAO’s Guidelines (see below) to learn how to prepare local events calendars and how to train data collectors in their correct use.

2) Most likely, your survey's sample size will be calculated for "households with children aged 0 – 24/ 59 months", not for 20 – 23 months, resulting in lower representativeness of data for this indicator (Only part of your sample will be children aged 20 – 23 months). Unless you have a separate (representative) sample for this age group, the best thing you can do is to ensure that your survey uses a larger sample of respondents (e.g. by using a 95% confidence level and 4% margin of error).