To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each of the last five years the rate of breastfeeding at (i) two weeks and (ii) four months for (a) Scotland, (b) England and Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) each other EU country. [79592]
Rates of breastfeeding in the United Kingdom are monitored by the Quinquenniel Surveys of Infant Feeding Practice. Data from the most recent in 1995 are given for the countries of the United Kingdom in the table. Other European Union countries do not carry out representative surveys of breastfeeding practice.
Prevalence of Breastfeeding 1995 (per cent. of mothers)
| |||
Age of infant
| England and Wales
| Scotland
| Northern Ireland
|
| 2 weeks | 54 | 44 | 52 |
| 4 months | 28 | 24 | 12 |
Source:
Infant Feeding 1995 London: The Stationery Office, 1997