Daer Friends: In the US, the Ross survey is not health statistics, but a collection of marketing data. I believe that only 3 types of women are surveyed: European-American, African-American and Hispanic. No Asians. No Native or indigenous peoples. The CDC is a survey of a representative sample of women across the country, and is a true collection of statistics. Folks are called at home and asked questions. The numbers for breastfeeding are not quite a straight line, there is a very slight upward slope over the past 5 years. However, exclusive bf rates have dropped over the past few years. A 3rd source of information (yes, this is as confusing as the new figure skating judging system) is the mother's response to the question "How is the baby fed at hospital discharge?" on the birth certificate worksheet. That's where the City Department of Health gets their numbers. A 4th source of numbers is the WIC statistics, based on how much supplemental formula is given and what women report about breastfeeding. However, those numbers are only for the WIC population. A 5th source of numbers is the individual hospitals. In my city, the hospital LCs keep track of the mothers they see and that yields another source of numbers. This is what I understand today. I could be wrong.........anybody else want to elucidate further? warmly, Nikki Lee *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome