The percentage of U.S. mothers who breast-feed their babies has reached the highest level on record amid mounting evidence that it provides many health benefits to the child, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The percentage of U.S. mothers whobreast-feedtheir babies has reached the highest level on record amid mounting evidence that it provides many health benefits to the child, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 74 percent of American women who gave birth in 2004 breast-fed their babies, continuing an upward trend since the early 1990s.

"We've made quite a bit of progress," CDC epidemiologist Dr. Celeste Philip, lead author of a CDC report on breast-feeding, said in a telephone interview.

Breast-feeding rates just about reached the government's target of 75 percent, the report showed. But many women did not stick exclusively to breast-feeding in the first months after birth as recommended by experts, turning instead to baby formula, the report showed.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that women who do not have health problems exclusively breast-feed their infants for at least the first six months, with breast-feeding continuing at least through the first year as other foods are introduced. The CDC backs these recommendations, Philip said.

The CDC report found that among infants born in 2004, the rate of exclusive breast-feeding through the first three months after birth was 31 percent, shy of the government's goal of 60 percent, and through six months was 11 percent, below the government target of 25 percent.

The report detailed racial and socioeconomic disparities among women who provide their babies exclusively breast milk in these first months, with black, teen-age, rural, less-educated, lower-income and unmarried mothers less likely to do so.

(Reuters) 据美国官员上周四介绍，美国妈妈母乳喂养的比例创空前纪录，目前已有大量证据表明母乳喂养对孩子的健康有很多好处。

据疾病控制及预防中心介绍，在2004年生育的美国妈妈中，有74%的人母乳喂养孩子，自上世纪90年代早期开始，这一比例就在不断上升。

疾病控制及预防中心母乳喂养报告的主要撰写者、流行病学家西莱斯特·菲利普博士在接受电话采访时说：“我们在这方面进步很大。”

报告显示，目前美国母乳喂养的比例刚刚达到政府75%的目标。但很多女性在孩子出生后的头几个月并没有按照专家的建议坚持纯母乳喂养，而是加入了一些代乳品。

美国儿科学会建议身体健康的女性至少在最初的六个月对孩子进行纯母乳喂养。母乳喂养至少应持续至孩子一周岁，同时可以添加一些其它食品。菲利浦博士说，疾病控制及预防中心对这些建议表示支持。

疾病控制及预防中心的研究报告表明，在2004年出生的新生儿中，头三个月得到纯母乳喂养的比例为31%，低于政府60%的目标；头六个月得到纯母乳喂养的比例为11%，低于政府25%的目标。

报告中详细分析了在头三个月至六个月对孩子进行纯母乳喂养的女性在种族和社会经济方面的差别。报告显示，黑人女性、不到20岁的女性、农村地区、受教育水平低、收入较低的女性、以及未婚妈妈进行纯母乳喂养的比例较低