How have breastfeeding rates in the United States changed in recent years? According to a recent report published by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, 54 percent of babies were breastfed between 1986-1988, a number which rose to 74.2 percent between 2008 and 2010 (referring to babies who were breastfed at least once).
Perhaps more interesting, however, is the percentage of babies breastfed over three months or more. When it comes to longer term figures, 34.6 percent of babies were breastfed from 1986 to 1988 and between 2009 and 2010, this had increased to 49.9 percent.
The data also sheds light on breastfeeding rates by education. Americans with a bachelor's degree or higher had higher rates of ever breastfeeding their children (65.5 percent) from 2008 to 2010 than those with no high school diploma (41.4 percent). During the same time period, the west had the highest regional rate of breastfeeding, 64.7 percent, while the south had the lowest at 41.5 percent.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)
