Percentage of infants less than 6 months old who receive only breastmilk, and no other solids or liquids including water (based on 24-hour dietary recall), with the exception of vitamin or mineral supplements and medicines.1 The rate is calculated as follows:

# of infants 0–<6 months exclusively breastfed x 100
total # of infants 0–<6 months

This equation may be modified to calculate rates for one-month intervals. The month interval in the numerator should match the month interval in the denominator.

Population-based surveys employing representative samples (e.g., DHS) and program records of EBR (to track trends but not impact). The DHS country reports and nutrition reports both present the EBR for infants 0–<4 months old. However, EBR for infants 0–<6 months can be calculated using DHS data (see calculator below).

Service delivery data can also be used to measure EBR. These data reflect the specific population receiving services at the service delivery site rather than the larger program catchment area. The advantage of using this data source is that it can be incorporated in existing service statistic collection efforts. Using this data source also captures the full effect of the intervention on the population actually receiving services that support optimal breastfeeding behaviors.

All exclusive breastfeeding data can be disaggregated so that month-specific exclusive breastfeeding rates can be calculated. Month-specific EBR is more sensitive to changes in infant feeding behaviors since changes in these intervals identify exact ages of breastfeeding behaviors.

EBR is defined by three criteria:
1. The infant is less than 6 months old, and
2. The infant was breastfed in the previous 24 hours, and
3. The infant received no other liquids or solids, including water, in the previous 24 hours.

See sample survey with questions needed to calculate the rate. The EBR calculator allows you to insert DHS EBR data (provided in 2-month intervals) from which the under 6 month EBR will be calculated automatically.

Using a 24-hour recall period measures current status and may cause the proportion of exclusively breastfed infants to be slightly overestimated, since some infants who are given other liquids irregularly may not have received them in the 24 hours before the survey. WHO’s Indicators for Assessing Breast-feeding Practices, Wellstart International’s Tool Kit for Monitoring and Evaluating Breastfeeding Practices and Programs, and the DHS surveys define the EBR using the 24-hour recall method. Using cross-sectional surveys, the best estimates of exclusive breastfeeding are obtained from current status data which include all births within a specified time period. The advantage of this approach is that it is not subject to recall error. The measure, then, should be interpreted as the percent of infants who “are currently being exclusively breastfed” rather than the percent who have been exclusively breastfed since birth.