despite India's early international lead in promoting breastfeeding, fresh research reveals that the figures for some states such as Himachal Pradesh (hp) are a cause for worry. As many as 82 per cent mothers in hp still don't breastfeed their infants for an adequate period, says a study by the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (bpni) for the National Health Survey.

While health experts suggest a minimum of six months of "exclusive' breastfeeding, in the state capital Shimla, barely four per cent of mothers report doing so. One official reported that "most' hp mothers discontinue breastfeeding after just a couple of weeks. Other under-performers include Delhi, Goa, West Bengal and Punjab, according to a paper by Prema Ramachandran of the Nutrition Foundation of India in the Indian Journal of Medical Research (Vol 119, No 6, June, 2004).

bpni found only 3.8 per cent of hp mothers exclusively breastfed for six months