ABSTRACT
In January 2012 the Department of Health published Improving Outcomes and Supporting Transparency, which included an ongoing indicator to increase breastfeeding initiation and prevalence. Much work is therefore still needed to meet the recommendations of the Acheson report if we are to improve the health of society by increasing rates of breastfeeding and improving the diet of infants. The role of breastfeeding in reducing the risk of excess weight in later life was highlighted in the document Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Call to Action on Obesity in England 2010. The 2005 Infant Feeding Survey noted that although women in the UK are now more likely to breastfeed in public, 47% reported difficulties in finding a place to breastfeed, 11% had been stopped or made to feel uncomfortable about breastfeeding in public and 8% had never attempted to feed in public.
