In a rare instance of achieving a government goal before the deadline, health officials announced last week that more than three out of four new moms in the U.S. breast-feed their infants.
About 77 percent of new mothers breast-feed, at least briefly, up from 60 percent in 1993-1994, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
A quarter century ago, the federal government set a goal of having 75 percent of new mothers breast-feeding their babies by 1990. After falling short, the CDC updated the deadline to 2010 and made it with three years to spare.
The latest figure ``looks like it is an all-time high" based on CDC surveys since the mid-1980s, said Jeff Lancashire, a CDC spokesman.
The new report is based on a federal survey involving in-person interviews as well as physical examinations. The findings are based on information for 434 infants from the years 2005 and 2006.
While experts attribute the rise to education campaigns that emphasize that breast milk is better than formula at protecting babies against disease and childhood obesity, the increasing cost of formula may have been the final impetus needed to surpass the goal. Of course, a changing culture that accommodates nursing mothers may also be a factor.
In 1983, 62 percent of newborns were being breast-fed. By 2001, that percentage was up to 70 percent.
Why was it such a long struggle to achieve and surpass the 75 percent goal?
Breast-feeding, though a natural, instinctual way of feeding babies, was institutionally and socially rejected in the years after World War II because of medical and technological advances. Breast-feeding was one of the traditional customs viewed as outmoded.
While a majority of the "baby boom" children were nurtured on bottles containing manufactured formula, after the 1960s the tide began returning to the traditional method of nourishment.
The number of breast-fed babies hit a low in the early 1970s, but since then the number began rising steadily, though the growth slowed as more and more woman entered the work force.
By the early 1980s, the federal government had joined the chorus calling for more breast-fed babies and started setting goals.
While a mother's milk has always been free, the costs of the alternative have been skyrocketing. A few years ago, the cost of a year's worth of store-bought formula was about $2,000 a year. Today, that figure has nearly doubled.
Breast-feeding also is ecologically friendly, since breast milk needs no packaging and produces no waste, it preserves resources and helps keep the environment clean.
We agree with former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, who in the 1980s said that "people who say they can't afford the best for their children already have it."
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