<<So -- my question is -- what is the REAL bf initiation rate?  63.6%  
according to Ross, or 77% according to the CDC?  Which is more accurate --  a biased 
industry based report with a sample base of around 250,000 women/year,  or a 
non-biased government report based on 424 women over a 2 year period of  time?
 
I'm really struggling with this because it is SUCH a disparity in  numbers.

 
Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC, FILCA>>

Jan, that's a really good question. I've struggled with this, and a number of other stats trying to write a paper. Ugh.

Ross has a definite interest in having "high numbers." If breastfeeding is "the goal" and Ross should be contributing to something less than "the goal," they invite suspicion. Joe Camel (cigarettes) was an advertising campaign which appeared to be targeting children, and while the tobacco industry fought this "idea of association," a poll discovered that the recognition factor of Joe Camel was above 90% for children, the same as the recognition factor for Mickey Mouse. Alas, the Joe Camel campaign is supposedly extinct.

To throw a third hat into the ring, The National Immunization Survey reflected interviews from July 2001 - December 2007 with caregivers of 19-35 month old US children born from 1999-2005. These are provisional results, with full results due out August 2009. <<http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/NIS_data/index.htm>>

This poll agrees that between 68.3-74.2% of US children were breastfed at birth during this interval. The number of children exclusively breastfed at the ages of 3 and 6 months were 31.5 and 11.9% respectively. Further down on the page, "One in four breastfed infants supplemented with infant formula within 2 days of birth." Before 2 days, 24.7% were fed formula. Before 3 months, 38.3%, before 6 months, 45.9%.

Not sure why the CDC would be involved in two separate surveys at the same time?

Best wishes from an equally confused colleague 
Sam Doak

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