NEW County breastfeeding data

If you're having trouble reading this message, click here

 

December 2021

Greetings,   We’ve known for years that breastfeeding in developing countries saves lives, partly because clean water may not be readily available to mix with infant formula. We had very little data, however, about breastfeeding’s effect on infant deaths in developed countries.   A study published in October is the first national report to evaluate whether breastfeeding reduces infant mortality in the United States. Researchers led by DNPAO staff analyzed data from more than 3 million US infants born in 2017. For infants aged 7 to 364 days, breastfeeding initiation reduced the risk of infant death overall by 26%. The reduction in infant death was 40% for infants aged 7 to 27 days. The protective effect was found among most racial and ethnic groups.   Another DNPAO-led project resulted in county-level data about breastfeeding initiation among babies born in 2018 and 2019. Using the mother’s residence, not the place of birth, breastfeeding initiation by county ranged from 22% to more than 90%. Breastfeeding initiation rates vary widely within states. These data were obtained from birth certificates and were published online in November.

 

Both new reports reflect whether mothers begin breastfeeding, not how long breastfeeding continues. Also, feeding infants only breastmilk in their first 6 months of life is recommended. These reports did not examine whether that recommendation was met or how it would affect mortality.   What Can Be Done?   See strategies for hospitals and birth centers, work sites, and communities to improve breastfeeding rates. In addition, here are four suggestions:

Share what works if your county has made progress in rates of breastfeeding initiation. For example, the Wellness Coalition in Montgomery, Alabama, posted resources online. The Coalition is a recipient of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program. Work with local partners to provide more breastfeeding education. A study of factors associated with breastfeeding initiation found that breastfeeding education made it 41% more likely that mothers would initiate and continue breastfeeding than if such education were not provided.

 

Let people with insurance know that most health insurance plans will cover the cost of breastfeeding support, counseling, and equipment for the duration of breastfeeding. Review racial and ethnic disparities in breastfeeding initiation and consider these tools to achieve health equity.
Thank you for everything you do to ensure that women who want to breastfeed have all the support they need to be successful.   Ruth Petersen, Director, DNPAO

 

Breastfeeding and Infant Mortality County Breastfeeding Rates

Feature Of The Month

 

Data Modernization Underway

DNPAO is committed to providing relevant, timely information for identifying trends and setting priorities. To improve how we collect and display data, we are looking for: New data and new ways of obtaining them. New ways of using existing data. New ways of visualizing and sharing data. The Clinical and Community Data Initiative (CODI) is one example of this work. CODI is developing tools and processes to combine existing data stored in different places to create individual- and household-level, linked longitudinal records. The records include information on social determinants of health, clinical and community interventions, and health outcomes. This linked information can support community efforts to improve health and achieve health equity using data-driven approaches. See the new CODI fact sheet.   In addition, we are investigating ways to modernize data related to physical activity surveillance. We are also exploring the gathering of data on anemia and iron deficiency during pregnancy from electronic medical records. We are training DNPAO staff in data modernization and recently added two fellows to our staff to focus on informatics.   Much of our existing state and national data is available through Data, Trends, and Maps. We recently updated 17 indicators in this interactive database that includes information on physical activity, diet, and breastfeeding behaviors and their environmental or policy supports as well as weight status.   See currently available data and statistics:

 

Data Trends and Maps Health Equity Breastfeeding

Nutrition Physical Activity Overweight and Obesity

 

News You Can Use

In Case You Missed It

 

Among 432,302 people aged 2 to 19 years, the rate of body mass index (BMI) increase almost doubled during the pandemic compared to a pre-pandemic period. Read the report. US adults are more physically active than they were 20 years ago, according to a new supplement in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. Yet differences exist among some racial groups, across income levels, and among people with chronic health conditions. Watch the video of the September DNPAO seminar titled 20 Years of Progress: What We Know About Physical Activity and What You Can Do.

What's New   See an illustration of the Health Benefits of Physical Activity for Children. Prevención de la obesidad infantil: 5 cosas que puede hacer en casa is the new Spanish language translation of the feature Preventing Childhood Obesity: 5 Things You Can Do at Home. Everyone can be involved in Active People, Healthy NationSM. If you work in health care, see how you can help your patients, employees, and community access the immediate and long-term benefits of physical activity.

 

Win From the Field: Ideas From CDC-Funded Grantees

Mobile Food Pharmacies Serve North Carolina County

 

Food as medicine is taken seriously in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where a collaborative effort provides healthy groceries to people with chronic diseases.

Medical providers with Atrium Health and Novant Health, the two main medical systems in the Charlotte area, can write food prescriptions and referrals to a food pharmacy. Each week, mobile medical units deliver 150 food boxes designed for people with chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension. A maternity food box includes prenatal vitamins and breastfeeding educational materials.   Each food box provides nonperishable, nutritious groceries for the entire household for seven days. The mobile units operate in six areas where people often lack access to transportation.

 

Atrium Health also partnered with a food pantry called Loaves & Fishes to establish a food pantry at Ascension Lutheran Church. The facility across the street from an Atrium medical center is convenient for patients referred by medical providers.

Chasidie Glover, Nutrition Services Coordinator at Loaves & Fishes.

A registered dietician at Loaves & Fishes developed nutritional guidelines for the prescribed food. RAO Community Health, a recipient of CDC’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program, provided technical and evaluation assistance. As a result, all food at the brick-and-mortar pantry meets the nutritional guidelines for food boxes delivered by the mobile units.   Additional community partners include Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program Cooperative Extension Service, Mecklenburg County Health Department, North Carolina State University, and Friendship Trays, which is the primary Meals on Wheels program for the area.

 

See What Others Are Doing

Upcoming Health Observances

 

January Folic Acid Awareness Week—January 3–9 February African American History Month American Heart Month National Girls and Women in Sports Day—February 3 World Cancer Day—February 4 Go Red for Women—February 5

Suggested Social Media Posts

 

Freshly pumped breastmilk can be stored in the refrigerator up to 4 days, and in the freezer for up to 12 months. See storage guidelines for maintaining the safety and quality of breast milk for babies. https://bit.ly/2YbS6Ys About 2 in 5 adults and 1 in 5 children and adolescents have #obesity. A healthy eating plan can help you maintain a healthy weight. Get healthy eating tips here: https://bit.ly/3nurRbr Understanding the most common barriers to physical activity—and creating strategies to overcome them—may help you add physical activity to your everyday life. https://bit.ly/3bM6HRw #ActivePeople Entender las barreras más comunes para hacer actividad física, y crear estrategias para superarlas, podría ayudarte a sumar la actividad física a tu vida cotidiana. https://bit.ly/3mgteMZ #GenteActiva Find photos to accompany these posts in the State and Community Health Media Center.

Behind The Scenes

 

Janelle Gunn, Associate Director of Policy, Partnership and Communication

I lead an office with two teams: The policy and partnership team interfaces with the Department of Health and Human Services, other federal agencies, and our external partners to advance our work and support programs. Examples include White House staff, Congress, public health organizations, and sometimes industry. The strategic communication team manages our website, social media, and other external messaging as well as communication training for recipients and audience research. This team makes sure that DNPAO’s science is understood so that our partners and individuals can easily act using the latest evidence. What is your greatest professional satisfaction? Supporting our programs at the state and local levels gives me great satisfaction. One example is that in the past year, we worked with the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program to build and expand partnerships and showcase REACH successes. I also know we’ve done our job well when people use and share our material, like our infographics and other tools. That lets me know we’re getting the right content to the right people.

 

How do partners help you do your work? Partners make sure we are aware of emerging practices; their feedback shapes our work. Partners also amplify and disseminate messages. Perhaps most importantly, partners do the work in the field. We know of a lot of strategies that work from them, and we continue to learn from the challenges and success they face in the field.   What would you like partners to know? We find notable disparities in everything from breastfeeding to obesity. In our data analyses, we see health disparities among racial and ethnic groups and in regions of the country. We want partners to know we are committed to achieving health equity and reducing disparities.   Favorite quote: “The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.”—Cesar Chavez.

 

Receive this as a forwarded email? Get it directly by entering your email here and subscribing to Nutrition, Physical Activity & Obesity.

Note: Website addresses of nonfederal organizations are provided solely as a service to readers. Provision of an address does not constitute an endorsement of this organization by CDC or the federal government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of other organizations’ web pages.   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd   Atlanta, GA 30329   1-800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636)   TTY: 888-232-6348 Questions or Problems  |  Unsubscribe