Key points
- WHO recommends initiating breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, and continued breastfeeding to 2 years or beyond.
- Only about 47% of infants aged 0–6 months worldwide were exclusively breastfed in 2018–2025 (WHO, fact sheet 4 August 2026).
- About 150 million children under five were stunted, 43 million wasted and 36 million overweight in 2024 (WHO).
- About half of all child deaths are associated with malnutrition — an association, not a claim that malnutrition alone caused them (WHO).
Direct answer: WHO recommends initiating breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, and continued breastfeeding to 2 years or beyond, with complementary foods from 6 months (fact sheet, 4 August 2026). Only about 47% of infants aged 0–6 months worldwide were exclusively breastfed in 2018–2025. Nearly 400,000 under-five deaths a year could be prevented if all infants were exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months and breastfed to 2 years or beyond. This page is awareness only: it states what WHO recommends at population level, and it gives no feeding advice for any individual child.
What WHO recommends
The recommendation is short and has not changed: initiate breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth; exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months; continue breastfeeding to 2 years or beyond, with complementary foods from 6 months. Exclusive breastfeeding means the infant receives only breast milk — no other food or drink, not even water — except for medicines where needed. The recommendation is a population-level standard, published by WHO for countries and health systems. What any individual mother and baby do is a matter for them and their clinician, and this page does not advise on it.
How many infants are breastfed
Only about 47% of infants aged 0–6 months worldwide were exclusively breastfed in 2018–2025 (WHO, 4 August 2026). The gap between the recommendation and the reality is the point of the figure: more than half of infants are not exclusively breastfed in their first six months. WHO estimates that nearly 400,000 under-five deaths a year could be prevented if all infants were exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months and breastfed to 2 years or beyond. Breastfeeding also contributes to mothers’ health: longer breastfeeding is associated with reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancer, longer gaps between pregnancies, and reduced all-cause mortality, as stated by WHO.
Malnutrition in numbers
About 150 million children under five were stunted, 43 million wasted and 36 million overweight in 2024 (WHO, 4 August 2026, rounded figures). Stunting is low height for age; wasting is low weight for height; overweight is high weight for height. The three can exist in the same country, the same community, and even the same household — the double burden of malnutrition. WHO states that about half of all child deaths are associated with malnutrition. That is an association, not a claim that malnutrition alone caused those deaths: malnutrition weakens a child, and infection then kills, or infection worsens malnutrition, and the two together do the damage.
Diarrhoea and malnutrition: the circle
Diarrhoea is a leading cause of malnutrition in children under five, and malnourished children are more vulnerable to diarrhoea; each episode worsens malnutrition (WHO, diarrhoeal disease fact sheet, 7 March 2024). Diarrhoeal disease is the third leading cause of death in children aged 1–59 months, with about 443,832 children under five dying each year and nearly 1.7 billion cases of childhood diarrhoeal disease a year. A significant proportion of diarrhoeal disease can be prevented through safe drinking-water and adequate sanitation and hygiene. The companion guide on clean water and children’s health carries the water and sanitation side of this circle.
First foods, at population level
From 6 months, WHO recommends complementary foods alongside continued breastfeeding. This page states that timing and goes no further into first foods: which foods, in what amounts, and in what order are questions for a clinician and for national guidance, not for a global awareness page. The feeding guides that competitors publish — age-by-age tables, portions, “what to avoid” lists — are practical advice, and this site deliberately does not publish practical advice. What the global figures say is that the first foods period is where stunting and wasting take hold, and that breastfeeding continues to protect a child through it.
Frequently asked questions
What does WHO recommend for infant feeding?
Breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, then complementary foods from 6 months alongside continued breastfeeding to 2 years or beyond.
How many infants are exclusively breastfed?
Only about 47% of infants aged 0–6 months worldwide were exclusively breastfed in 2018–2025 (WHO).
How common is child malnutrition?
About 150 million under-fives were stunted, 43 million wasted and 36 million overweight in 2024 (WHO).