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Table 3 Study findings compared to the WHO infant and young child feeding indicators

From: Patterns of breastfeeding practices among infants and young children in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Practices defined by WHOa

Study findings % (n)

WHO ratingb(Range for this rating in %)

Initiation of breastfeeding (% of babies breastfed within 1 h of birth).

59.8 (1089/1822)

Good (50–89)

Exclusive breastfeeding (% of babies 0 – < 6 months of age exclusively breastfed in the last 24 h).

44.3 (362/818)

Fair (12–49)

Duration of breastfeeding (median duration in months of breastfeeding of children under 3 years of age).c

12 (1741)

Poor (0-17)

Complementary feeding (% of breastfed babies 6 – < 10 or 7 – < 10 months of age who received complementary foods in the last 24 h).

79.9 (311/389)

Good (80–94)

  1. aWorld Health Organization. Infant and young child feeding a tool for assessing national practices, policies and programmes. WHO. Geneva 2003
  2. bThe rating options are poor/fair/good/very good for all variables but the percentage varies depending on practise
  3. cThe children in this study were ≤ 2 years of age