Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31236559›Full record

ArticleHealth policy and planning2019

The cost of not breastfeeding: global results from a new tool.

Dylan D Walters, Linh T H Phan, Roger Mathisen

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Health policy and planning, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 198 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
198citing papers in PubMed, 12 pooled it
32.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

198 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 461 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Interventions to support breastfeeding among mothers living with HIV: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2025
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  18. Effect of Novel Breastfeeding Smartphone Applications on Breastfeeding Rates.Breastfeeding medicine : the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine · 2021
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  20. Review

138 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Dylan D WaltersNutrition International, 180 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Linh T H PhanAlive & Thrive, 60 Ly Thai To Street, Hoan Kiem, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
Roger MathisenAlive & Thrive, 60 Ly Thai To Street, Hoan Kiem, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
Nutrition International · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Evidence shows that breastfeeding has many health, human capital and future economic benefits for young children, their mothers and countries. The new Cost of Not Breastfeeding tool, based on open access data, was developed to help policy-makers and advocates have information on the estimated human and economic costs of not breastfeeding at the country, regional and global levels. The results of the analysis using the tool show that 595 379 childhood deaths (6 to 59 months) from diarrhoea and pneumonia each year can be attributed to not breastfeeding according to global recommendations from WHO and UNICEF. It also estimates that 974 956 cases of childhood obesity can be attributed to not breastfeeding according to recommendations each year. For women, breastfeeding is estimated to have the potential to prevent 98 243 deaths from breast and ovarian cancers as well as type II diabetes each year. This level of avoidable morbidity and mortality translates into global health system treatment costs of US$1.1 billion annually. The economic losses of premature child and women's mortality are estimated to equal US$53.7 billion in future lost earnings each year. The largest component of economic losses, however, is the cognitive losses, which are estimated to equal US$285.4 billion annually. Aggregating these costs, the total global economic losses are estimated to be US$341.3 billion, or 0.70% of global gross national income. While the aim of the tool is to capture the majority of the costs, the estimates are likely to be conservative since economic costs of increased household caregiving time (mainly borne by women), and treatment costs related to other diseases attributable to not breastfeeding according to recommendations are not included in the analysis. This study illustrates the substantial costs of not breastfeeding, and potential economic benefits that could be generated by government and development partners' investments in scaling up effective breastfeeding promotion and support strategies.

Indexed as

Cost-Benefit AnalysisGlobal HealthBreast FeedingFemaleHumansInfantInfant MortalityMaternal-Child Health ServicesSurveys and QuestionnairesBreastfeedingeconomic evaluationmaternal and child healthnutrition

Identifiers

PMID31236559
PMCPMC6735804
OpenAlexW2955783831

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.