The Mongolian health ministry on Tuesday announced the declining rate of breastfeeding according to a survey.

The Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Public Health, with support from UNICEF, conducted the VI National Survey on the Nutritional Status of the Population in 2023-2024 to assess and improve the nation’s nutritional status.

The survey included more than 16,000 people from the 21 provinces of Mongolia, including not less than 2,800 children under the age of five.

It revealed that the percentage of newborns receiving colostrum immediately after birth has decreased from 96.7 per cent in 1999 to 87.4 per cent in 2024.

Additionally, the proportion of children exclusively breastfed for up to six months has dropped significantly, from 93.4 per cent in 1999 to 59.6 per cent in 2024.

The survey also found that seven out of 10 children aged six to 23 months in Mongolia are not eating properly.

Half of these children are not consuming the right variety of foods at the right frequency for their age, and 31.8 per cent do not eat fruits and vegetables at all. 

(Xinhua/NAN)