Breastfeeding prevalence in young children Latin America 2012-2021

Within Latin America and the Caribbean, South America is presumed to be the subregion with the highest prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding among young infants. The share of children aged five months or younger who were exclusively breastfed in South America amounted to close to 42 percent in 2012, well above the regional average, which stood at 33.4 percent. In 2019, the Caribbean subregion showed a decrease of 3.8 percent in the exclusive breastfeeding prevalence, compared to 2012. In turn, in Central America, the share of young infants exclusively breastfed increased from 21.6 percent in 2012 to more than 33 percent, showing an improvement of 11.6 percentage points.